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Book 

Copyright^ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT; 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ROYAL AUCTION 
BRIDGE 

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE CONVENTIONS 
OF THE GAME FOR THE BEGINNER AND 
THE ADVANCED PLAYER WITH FULL 
INSTRUCTIONS FOR DECLARING 
AND PLAYING 

NULLOS 



BY 

EDMUND ROBERTSON 

Author of "Bridge Developments," etc. t etc. 



INCLUDING, BY SPECIAL PERMISSION, THE OFFICIAL 
LAWS OF AUCTION BRIDGE AS ADOPTED BY 
THE WHIST CLUB OF NEW YORK, 
NOVEMBER, 1913 



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LAIRD & LEE, Inc. 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 



COPYRIGHT, 1914 

By 

LAIRD & LEE, Inc., 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 



DEC II 1914 

©CU38/890 



CONTENTS 

PART PAGE 

Preface vii 

Introductory ix 

I. First Principles of Bidding . . . " . i 

II. The Opening Bid: "One No-Trump" . 15 

III. The Opening Bid: Royals and Hearts . 27 

IV. Concerning Nullos 35 

V. The Opening Bid: "Nullos" ... 43 

VI. The Opening Bid: Diamonds and Clubs 55 

VII. Opening Bids of "Two," "Three" and 

"Four" 63 

VIII. The Opening Bid: Spades .... 73 

IX. Declarations by the Second Player . 83 

X. Declarations by the Third Player . 95 
XI. Continuation of the Bidding . . .111 

XII. Doubling 129 

XIII. The Score 135 

XIV. The Adversaries' Play 139 

XV. The Declarer's Play 163 

XVI. How to Play Nullos 171 

XVII. The Law t s of Auction 189 

XVIII. Etiquette of Auction 211 

XIX. The Laws of Three-Handed Auction . 213 
XX. The Laws of Duplicate Auction . .217 

XXI. Illustrative Hands 221 

General Index . 251 

v 



PREFACE 



The "Nullo" bid is a no-trump declaration with 
a minus value. It has not been officially recognized 
but an increasing number of players are taking up the 
bid, which adds so much variety and piquancy to the 
declarations and to the play of the hands. It is a 
development that gives Auction that poise of which 
it appeared to stand in need, and in a sense completes 
the game by allowing even a poor hand a chance to 
take part in the bidding. 

The Nullo call is only an additional declaration — 
let this be distinctly understood. It does not make 
any radical change necessary in the conventions of 
declaring, as Royal Spades did. It is possible to go 
from a table at which the new bid is played to 
another table at which it is not played without men- 
tal disturbance. No fresh problems are presented to 
the mind — the game remains unchanged. This is a 
crowning merit, because none of the inconvenience 
that is usually experienced in the period of transition 
from the old era to the new will be felt when Nullos 
are universally adopted. 



I have to acknowledge the great help my brother, 
Mr. J. A. Robertson, has given me in writing this 
book, and especially in collecting test-hands from 
actual play. The credit of having invented the 
u minus-four rule," so useful to the partners in play- 
ing against a Nullo, is due to him. 
The 1 6th August, 19 14. E. R. 

Vll 



INTRODUCTORY 



It is now twenty years since Lord Brougham in 
the autumn of 1894, expounded the mysteries of 
Bridge to the members of the Portland Club in Lon- 
don. When on that historic occasion he pronounced 
Bridge "by far the best card game ever invented" 
he little dreamt of the immense popularity the game 
would soon achieve, and how suddenly it was des- 
tined to lose that popularity. 

Royal Auction, as now played, is a better game all 
round than Bridge, but like all innovations it has en- 
countered the usual storm of protest and disap- 
proval. From Long Whist to "Nullos" is a far cry. 
Short Whist, Bridge, Auction Bridge and Royal 
Auction have each in turn encountered the same 
futile opposition, and it is now the turn of "Nullos" 
to face the music. 

The truth is, Bridge was a more amusing and an 
easier game to play than Whist, which it had no 
difficulty in ousting from all the leading card rooms, 
and Auction has ousted Bridge for much the same 
reasons. 

At each stage a new feature has been added to 
the older game, and, while a change is not necessarily 
an improvement, these successive changes have, in 
the main, been undoubted and sterling improve- 
ments. The popular voice has acclaimed each inno- 
vation, and although Manu many centuries ago 
declared that wisdom is not to be attained by the 

ix 



X 



INTRODUCTORY 



mere counting of heads, in a case of this kind uni- 
versal popularity is an infallible test. 

At Whist the trump was decided arbitrarily by 
the turn up card. Bridge imported a new method 
of deciding the trump, with varying values assigned 
to tricks and honors in the different suits; and it is 
said the French added their known partiality for 
playing with a dummy. 1 The pleasing variation of 
no-trumps was also introduced. 

Bridge was indeed a great game, but there was 
one great flaw, the dealing side had an immense 
advantage. They had the whole say about the decla- 
ration, and could make the game expensive if their 
cards were good, or cheap if they were bad, besides 
having the advantage of seeing the two hands, and 
of so knowing how best to combine their forces 
against the adversaries. 

Bridge introduced the right of choosing the trump 
instead of being tied down to the turn up card, Auc- 
tion Bridge extended the right of naming the trump 
from the dealing side to all the players. But it was 
the spade call that really sounded the death knell of 
Bridge. To hold four aces, or five honors in 
hearts, when the other side had the deal and de- 
clared spades was a sore trial to the non-dealers. It 
was more than flesh and blood could stand; and a 
game that gave all the players a voice in the declara- 
tion, and in which a good hand had always a decided 
value, came as a great relief. 

As in Auction all the four players have a voice in 
the declaration, theoretically the best hand has the 
best of the game: the opponents of the dealing side 

1 It has never been definitely ascertained how this interesting 
feature the dummy hand came to be included in the game. 



INTRODUCTORY 



XI 



are no longer left out in the cold to mourn over their 
ill-luck in not having a chance to declare their good 
cards. 

The trick values assigned to the suits and to no- 
trumps in Auction Bridge were at first borrowed 
without any discrimination from Bridge. It led to a 
preponderance of no-trumpers, and it was soon seen 
that it was necessary to adjust the inequalities arising 
from the low values assigned to the black suits and 
the inflated value assigned to no-trumps. 

Suggestions of improvement and revision of the 
methods of scoring were made on all sides, and 
finally led to the adoption of the Royal count, which 
is said to have been first played at the Racquet Club 
in Philadelphia in 191 1. 

The count as it now stands is the aggregate pro- 
duction of many minds. It has been built up grad- 
ually; but, as to how and when the successive changes 
were introduced, there is very little that is authentic. 
The only thing certain is that the ingenuity of card- 
players has, so far, invented seven declarations with 
only four suits; the three additional calls being 
royals, no-trumps and nullos. The inquirer has 
tried in vain to discover who invented no-trumps, or 
even to find out when it w T as invented, nor will he 
be more successful in discovering who invented 
royals and nullos. 

The three "improvements" of which we hear so 
much appear to have been suggested more than a 
decade ago. The enhanced value of spades, the 
miser e call, 2 and the 10 point no-trumper, all hail 

2 See the Laws of Misery Bridge by Oswald Crawfurd, 1902. 
The credit of reviving the misere call in its present form is due 
to Mr., Fred C. Thwaits of Milwaukee at the time (1912) presi- 
dent of the American Whist League. 



xii 



INTRODUCTORY 



from the good old days of Bridge. Nor is Auction 
Bridge such a new game as it is generally supposed 
to be — it was played in India in 1902. Mr. Oswald 
Crawfurd who had recently returned from India, 
writing to the Times of the 16th January, 1903, 
on "Misery Bridge and Auction Bridge" says, 
"Auction Bridge which I have seen much played and 
much liked this winter is more lively than dummy 
bridge." 

The game failed to attract any considerable atten- 
tion till "John Doe" published a series of papers in 
.the Pioneer, which he followed up by a little bro- 
chure on the game in 1904. 3 On the strength of this 
booklet, which led the way in Auction literature, the 
credit of having invented the game has been ascribed 
to "John Doe." But like all games, Auction Bridge 
was not the unaided inspiration of a single genius, 
for John Doe points out that he got the idea of the 
game he did invent from "a chance reference to the 
possibilities of such a game in a magazine article." 

It was some time before Auction Bridge obtained 
a footing at the London Clubs : it first appeared at 
the Bath Club in 1905, then at the Portland Club in 
1908, and -from there.it spread rapidly to the other 
clubs. 

The royal and mis ere declarations were obviously 
superfluous at Bridge, but they are preeminently 
suited to Auction. The original value assigned to 
royal spades was 10 a trick, but some unknown Bos- 
tonian suggested that its value be made 9. A rever T 
sion was also suggested to the old no-trump value 
io, 4 and Mr. Milton C. Work, the Chairman of the 

3 Auction Bridge by John Doe, Pioneer Press, Allahabad, 1904. 

4 In a small pamphlet on "Biritch or Russian Whist* printed in 



INTRODUCTORY 



xi u 



Whist Club of New York, assigned the values of 7 
to diamonds and 6 to clubs. Thus the broken and 
unsuitable progression of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 was 
changed for the simple and eminently suitable 
sequence of 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10; the value of 2 being 
retained for a defensive spade. In a bidding game 
low values are necessarily out of count, whereas the 
arrangement of the trick values in sequence tends 
to adjust bidding values, and so to increase competi- 
tion in the bidding. The revised count immediately 
became popular, and has been played at some of the 
London Clubs since June, 19 12. 

When the laws of the game were recently under 
revision by the Portland Club in London, they de- 
cided to make a further radical change. Under the 
Philadelphian count the value of 2 was assigned to 
ordinary spades, and the enhanced value of 9 to 
royal spades. The double value given to the spade 
suits was an anomaly, and the retention of the low 
value of 2 for common or garden spades, soon led 
to the invention of a system of informatory spade 
bids, ranging from "two spades" to "seven spades," 
to indicate certain holdings in the caller's hand. 

The "two spade" call had grown up under the 
old count, and had acquired a special orthodoxy of 
its own; but to declare "three," "four," "five," "six" 
and "seven spades" was felt to be carrying these con- 
ventional calls to preposterous lengths. Not only 
were there original bids of high spades, but a com- 
plicated system of "secondary spade" bids was grad- 

London In 1886, the value of 10 points a trick is assigned to Biritch 
or no-trumps. 

The same value was assigned to no-trumps in "Pons Asinorum; or 
Bridge for Beginners' 1 by A. G. Hulme Be am an, 1889. 



xiv 



INTRODUCTORY 



ually introduced, and there was much talk of more to 
follow. 

When high spades first became popular in 
America nearly two years ago, a vigorous campaign 
was conducted against them by Miss Florence Irwin 
in the New York Times, but they found ardent 
champions in many expert players notably in Mr. 
Milton C. Work, Chairman of the Whist Club of 
New York; and in spite of obvious objections they 
gained in popularity, and were regarded as an im- 
portant item in the repertoire of the declarer. 

Auction was thus being converted from a game 
into a study. Originality, dash and brilliancy were 
being gradually eliminated, and there were an in- 
creasing number of set conventions that a player was 
obliged to learn by rote or give up the game. There 
was no real difficulty in mastering the multiple spade 
calls — the trouble was, they entailed school-work, 
and were rough on the mere pleasure-seeker, out for 
an evening's enjoyment. They might be extremely 
profitable to the professional expert but they were a 
wicked plot against the enjoyment of honest card- 
players bent on amusement. 

Apart from the mental discomfort and "the jar on 
one's sporting instincts," high spades could never 
be regarded as legitimate card conversation. The 
caller made a declaration and assumed a contract 
which he had no hope and no intention of fulfilling. 
When he said "six spades," he did not disclose either 
length or strength in spades — he had not the re- 
motest prospect of fulfilling his contract — he had 
merely used the call as a device to indicate that he 
had good hearts, and all round strength, except in 
the suit in which he declared to make a small slam f 



INTRODUCTORY 



XV 



and he expected his partner to take him out by either 
calling "two hearts" or "two no-trumps, M whichever 
suited his hand best. 

The adoption of these spurious calls could not fail 
to produce a system of purely artificial conventions 
repugnant to Auction players as a whole. The Port- 
land Club therefore decided to abolish the spade call 
at 2 a trick, and with it has disappeared, so far as 
Auction in England is concerned, the whole fabric 
of artificial bidding. 

The introduction of nullos, which is another inno- 
vation that hails from America, has added variety 
and charm to the game. It is said that the new call 
like Futurism in art and Schonberg in music has set 
all the experts wondering where they are, and what 
to think of it, but this is mere hyperbole, as it has 
not in any way interfered with the new count — it is 
only an additional declaration — and it has also the 
merit of not interfering with the established conven- 
tions of the game. 

Nullos have made a rapid and continued advance 
in popular estimation; and in the opinion of those 
capable of forming a judgment have come to stay. 
They have increased the range and fertility of the 
declarant's resources, and raised the faculty of in- 
tuition to the n th power. It is not so difficult to 
play a nullo as it looks, it merely wants experience, 
and already there are players who manipulate a 
nullo hand with a card instinct that often looks like 
inspiration. 

When the bidding at Auction is dull the game is 
dull, when the bidding is lively the game is lively. 
The keener the competition to secure the contract 
the greater the interest of the game. Both royals 



xvi 



INTRODUCTORY 



and nullos have quickened up the game by increas- 
ing its bidding possibilities. They force the declarer 
into high contracts and extend the chances for penal- 
izing rash and unsound bidding. 

Auction possesses a fascination for even the in- 
expert player. Apart from its other charms, it is 
an easier game to play than Whist or Bridge, and a 
level-headed man, of balanced judgment, would of 
his own intuition be a better bidder, and all round a 
more desirable partner at Royal Auction, than the 
average Whist or Bridge player with a big store of 
book knowledge. 

The play is vital when an extra trick is needed to 
make the game, or to fulfil the contract, especially 
if it is a high contract that has been doubled, but a 
large majority of hands at Auction play themselves. 
The finest card memory, the greatest skill in discard- 
ing, signalling, echoing and playing are of less ac- 
count than the all-important faculty of assessing the 
correct declaring value of a hand, of estimating its 
game-making chances, or the chances of defeating 
an adverse contract. The substantial reward for 
level-headed judgment in declaring and doubling 
makes for independence of conventions, and is one 
of the chief reasons for the increasing popularity of 
the game, tending as it does to place the beginner 
on the same footing as the experienced player. 

The bidding and the dummy hand simplify the 
play, but it is difficult to see why Auction should be 
regarded as a less intellectual game than Whist or 
Bridge, since there is more to remember, more infer 
ences to be drawn, and a greater variety of consider-, 
ations to be weighed. There are not merely the 
game and the rubber to be played for, but there is 



INTRODUCTORY 



also a constant weighing of the balance of probabili- 
ties in favor of defeating an adverse contract. The 
necessity for drawing rapid and correct inferences 
from the bidding; and the delicate assessing of prob- 
abilities develop powers of concentration, observa- 
tion, judgment and memory, and raise the game to a 
high intellectual plane. 

The game undoubtedly hits the temper of the 
times, it has a large element of luck which enters 
into all things, and it constantly calls for the exer- 
cise of the qualities requisite for success in the great 
game of life — foresight, calculation, combination 
and concentration. The rewards for sound judg- 
ment and promptitude, for quickness of decision and 
action when occasion demands, are greater in this 
than in any other card game. These are sterling 
merits in a game of skill, and give Royal Auction an 
undisputed claim to be considered the king of card 
games. 

The poker element makes a strong appeal to 
human nature; this has made Auction popular 
with all classes and both sexes. But the poker ele- 
ment does not consist, as some players wrongly 
imagine, in bluffing with poor cards, which is always 
a fatal sort of thing to do. Auction has much of 
the cunning of poker, and its likeness to that game 
consists in the declarer having to back his cards 
against the opponents' cards, and in his being con- 
tinually required to read the adversaries' hands, and 
to correctly gauge their idiosyncrasies. As in poker 
the losses on good cards may be heavy when they 
have been backed too high. 

Auction has the disadvantage of all games played 
in partnership; a player is very much in the hands 



xviii 



INTRODUCTORY 



of his partner, and it is most important to know his 
peculiarities, and his methods of play. Insight into 
the partner's as well as the opponents' temperaments 
has a great deal to do with success at Auction. The 
personal equation enters so largely into the game, 
that it is a question whether it does not spoil it as a 
game of skill. 

The card table is a good place to study character 
of a sort. The conceit of the Bridge-player has 
passed into a proverb — every player feels in his in- 
most heart that he is streets in front of those he 
plays with. If he only thought so one would not 
mind, but he sometimes lets other people know his 
thoughts. What Captain Kennedy said of Chess is 
equally true of cards. There exists in all human 
nature a latent seed of snobbishness which contact 
with cards causes to germinate and sprout. The 
moral and physical idiosyncrasy of different players 
presents a curious study to the observer. It is not so 
difficult to meet a player of unusual insight, rapid 
powers of inference and a skill extraordinarily deft, 
as it is to meet with a player possessed of an 
equanimity which neither success nor defeat has 
power to disturb. The unruffled equanimity of mind 
and temper which a man shows in the ordinary 
affairs of life, seems to desert him at the card table. 
The man who, in ordinary circumstances, will not 
betray any loss of temper will show a rising im- 
patience and irritability when the fortunes of war 
are against him, and he loses a redoubled contract. 
He is immediately possessed of a desire to let the 
table know that his failure is due to bad luck, and 
by no possible means to bad judgment. Losses at 
Auction are invariably ascribable to one of three 



INTRODUCTORY 



XIX 



causes: one's bad luck; the good luck of one's op- 
ponents; or, the bad play of one's partner. 

Some natures are more objectionable in the flush 
of success, and their boredom is inflicted indiscrim 
inately on both friend and foe. While others, a 
few it is true, but one wonders why they are ever 
allowed to play, are bores not inferior in powers of 
annoyance to either the Ancient Mariner or the Old 
Man of the Sea. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



PART I 

FIRST PRINCIPLES AND SOME SCHOOLS 
OF BIDDING 

TWO LEADING SCHOOLS 

There are various schools of declaring and an 
endless variety of views is held by them; every day 
something new is suggested. It was so in Bridge, 
and again in Auction Bridge, and it is inevitably so 
in Royal Auction. 

Familiarity with every school of bidding is help- 
ful in many ways; besides, when one plays with 
strangers, one does not feel like a cat in a strange 
garret. But, for all practical purposes, it is sufficient 
to understand the guiding principles of the different 
schools. 

All of them naturally fall into two leading schools 
* — the one playing a forward, the other a waiting 
game — the one believing in declaring when they can, 
the other in lying low with good hands — to hear 
what the other players have to say before making 
any disclosure of strength. 

Going to the root of the matter it is the same old 
question — which is it better to play for, the game 
and the rubber, or the penalty score? 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



'"piling up velvet" 

Piling up 'Velvet" is an expressive Americanism 
for piling up penalty points. All tall rubbers are 
the result of tall penalty scores — penalties that often 
dwarf the rubber bonus. It is foolish to toil and 
struggle through a number of deals for 250 bonus 
points, when a successful double will yield the player 
300 penalty points on one hand. This is an exasper- 
atingly easy piece of q.e.d. reasoning; Good hands 
should be utilized, not to make the game or rubber, 
but to defeat adverse contracts : instead of trying to 
play the hand the declarer should angle for penalty 
points. 

LYING LOW FOR PENALTIES 

Nothing will pay better than lying low in a game 
in which the bidders are speculatively inclined, and 
in which they will go risking two and three hundred 
points for the sake of making two tricks, or to keep 
the other side from obtaining the contract, even 
when it is clear that the adversaries cannot win the 
game. 

With players who bid to take part in the conver- 
sation, who double on principle, and who will com- 
mit Auction hart kari by redoubling, naturally more 
points are to be made by breaking contracts than by 
making them. In such company, the penalty scores 
are the ones to play for. 

PLAYING FOR THE RUBBER BONUS 

But if the four players realize that none of them 
is forced to bid unless he has good reasons for bid- 
ding, such as winning the game or keeping the other 
side from winning the game, then the penalty points 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF BIDDING 



are cut down to a minimum, and the rubber bonus 
of 250 is by comparison tangible and substantial. 

In expert auction, it is the side that wins the rub- 
ber that wins the points. The better the game is 
known, and the better the game is played, the fewer 
are the occasions in which the winners of the rubber 
are the losers of points. Unduly big and unduly 
small rubbers rarely occur in good auction, and when 
they do occur they point forcefully to unsoundness in 
the bidding. 

AVERAGE SIZE OF A RUBBER 

It has been computed from statistics of a large 
number of rubbers, under present day conditions, 
that the average size of a rubber is 400 points. As- 
suming that this figure is correct, it will be found to 
be made up somewhat as follows : 

Rubber bonus 250 

Trick score in favor of side 

winning the rubber 45 

Honor score in favor of side 

winning the rubber 70 



365 

Difference in penalty scores. . . 35 



400 

Neither the trick nor the honor score has been 
estimated at too high a figure. As three-fourths of 
the hands are played at no-trumps, royals or hearts, 
there is usually a fair honor score in favor of the 
side winning the rubber. There are double honors, 
eight honors, a hundred aces, grand and little slams; 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



and taking the average of a large number of rub- 
bers into account, 70 is by no means an inflated 
figure. 

But it is to the smallness of the difference in the 
penalty scores that it is desired to draw attention. 
It is seldom that the penalties cancel one another: 
when they do, it is usually because both sides are 
given to flag-flying, and then it is just a gamble which 
side will win the most points. 

The conclusion to be drawn from this is that, 
w T hile penalty scores are attractive, they are not nec- 
essarily more remunerative than the rubber bonus, 
and it is a safe policy for the dealer in opening the 
bidding to try for game when he can, instead of wait- 
ing with a good hand for the sake of a doubtful 
penalty score. 

OTHER REASONS FOR WAITING 

Playing for penalty points is the leading idea of 
the waiting game, but it is by no means its only idea. 
The important point is, that, with a strong hand, a 
player should do all he can to encourage adverse 
bidding, he should give his partner every oppor- 
tunity to speak, and thus get all the knowledge he can 
as to the position of the cards. These are good rea- 
sons for waiting. 

Moreover, it must not be understood that the 
waiting game is the same game that was played in 
the days of Auction Bridge when the dealer would, 
as a matter of course, declare a non-committal "one 
spade, " and it was obligatory on the partner to take 
him out. 

In Royal Auction, the waiting player skilfully 
varies his declaration: he will declare w T ith some 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF BIDDING 5 



good hands, and wait with others. He recognizes 
that undercalling a good hand, and passing the 
declaration in hopes of profiting by the opponents' 
rash declarations, are tactics that defeat themselves 
unless they are sparingly used. He carefully sifts 
the good hands that are useful for declaring from 
those that are useful to wait w T ith, and those that 
may be useful to defeat adverse bidding. 

FLAWS OF THE WAITING GAME 

At best, it is an attempt to play single-handed 
against two adversaries, and contravenes a first prin- 
ciple of the game. It renders concerted action 
impossible, because even if waiting tactics are spar- 
ingly used the partner can never be certain of the 
dealer's game. 

The waiting player assumes that he will have 
another opportunity to speak, but this is after all 
only an assumption. He also assumes that the op- 
ponents will bid. But there is no certainty about 
adverse bidding, and many a player who has lain in 
wait for an opponent's bid is still waiting. In the 
absence of evidence to the contrary, it is always safer 
to assume that the opponents will not bid unless they 
have the material for bidding. 

In a small percentage of good hands, it may ap- 
pear better, instead of giving information, to invite 
information by making it as easy as possible for the 
partner to bid, but there is the danger of conveying 
a false impression of the dealer's holding. 

A FORWARD GAME 

Forward players believe that the primary object 
in combining the two hands is to make the rubber. 



6 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



Royal Auction Is an attacking game, and until more 
is known about the position of the cards, winning 
the rubber should be the bidder's goal; after he 
knows how the cards lie, he may decide that more 
is to be made by using his good cards to defeat an 
adverse declaration. Forward players agree that 
defeating an adverse call is often more lucrative 
than playing the hand, and are quite willing to play 
for penalties if the opponents show a tendency to 
flag-flying. 

VALUE OF FIRST PRINCIPLES 

The lesson that the battle of the schools teaches is 
that it is more important to understand the first prin- 
ciples of a game like Royal Auction, than it is to 
memorize its conventions. The only absolute rule 
of play is to play to win, and if that end is achieved 
it does not matter how many conventions of the 
game a player has broken, and what theories of 
probabilities he has ignored. Numerous occasions 
arise in actual play when it is to a player's advantage 
to break the conventions of the game, and indeed, to 
know when to throw convention overboard, marks 
the master player, but the violation of first principles 
is an altogether different matter. 

A CARDINAL PRINCIPLE 

Royal Auction is played in partnership, and, like 
all games played in partnership, combination is nec- 
essary to success. The strategy of bidding and 
playing should be carried out by each side harmoni- 
ously, and with a common purpose. The chief flaw 
in the waiting game is that it ignores the cardinal 
principle that the game is played in partnership, and 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF BIDDING 



7 



that the best results can only be attained by con- 
certed action. Even at the risk of informing the 
adversaries, one should inform one's partner, be- 
cause the information is more vital to one's part- 
ner than the disclosure is to one's opponents. Two 
forces of twenty-six cards each are pitted against 
two similar forces, and the problem before each set 
of players is how to combine their forces in order 
to obtain the best results. 

These are the same old Whist and Bridge maxims 
that have done duty any time these fifty years, but 
it is necessary to reiterate them. 

ANOTHER BASIC PRINCIPLE 

Information is the first essential to successful com- 
bination, and in order to attain perfect combina- 
tion, the preliminary bidding should be informatory 
and straightforward, and so designed as to lead up 
to the most paying bid of which the two hands are 
capable. It should proceed as an intelligent conver- 
sation between partners to enable a joint plan of at- 
tack and defense to be carried out. 

Another basic principle therefore is, that the 
dealer should give his partner early and accurate 
information in the opening bid; if a false note is 
struck in the opening bid it is likely to persist 
throughout the bidding, and may greatly affect the 
play of the hand. 

An obvious and oft repeated truism is that any 
disclosure a player makes during the play of the 
hand is more useful to his partner than it is to the 
declarer. The information the declarer receives 
about a particular card tells him on which side it lies. 
He knows, as soon as the dummy hand goes down, 



8 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



whether the card is in his favor or against him, and 
the only additional information he obtains is the 
position of the card. But the information to the 
partner not only tells him where the card is, but it 
also tells him w T hether or not the card is a friendly 
one. It gives the partner the kind of information 
the dealer already possesses, and it tends to place 
him in regard to that suit on an equality with the 
dealer. 

From the opening bid to the play of the last card, 
the information given to the partner is vital, and the 
accumulated experience of Whist and Bridge has 
shown that success is better achieved by informing 
the partner than by deceiving the adversaries. 

THE SEVEN DECLARATIONS 

Besides the suit declarations there are no-trumps 
and nullos. These seven declarations, may be 
grouped as follows, in order of their importance : 

1. No-Trumps. 

2. Royals and Hearts. 

3. Nullos. 

4. Diamonds and Clubs. 

5. The Safety Spade. 

6. Informatory Spades. 

A further classification into the higher and the 
lesser contracts is necessary. The higher contracts 
are no-trumps, royals and hearts, with nullos on the 
border line. The lesser contracts are diamonds and 
clubs. The safety spade and informatory spades 
are in a different category. 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF BIDDING 



GAME THE FIRST GOAL 

The dealer should assume the offensive, and bid 
for game when he can. With a good hand, winning 
the game, which is a stage in the rubber, should be 
his first goal, and he should if possible select one of 
the game-winning declarations, no-trumps, royals or 
hearts. 

When he cannot make a declaration that offers 
a chance of game, he should try to convey early and 
reliable information to the partner of the contents 
of his hand. 

ADVANTAGE OF THE DEAL 

As Royal Auction is an attacking game, it is a 
decided advantage to get in the first blow. The side 
having the deal has the attack, and the dealer should 
indicate the line of attack to enable his partner to 
support him to the fullest extent the hand warrants. 

He should go down the list of declarations, from 
no-trumps to the safety spade, keeping the game- 
winning declarations always in view. 

About eighty per cent of the deals are played at 
no-trumps, or in a major suit, and practically the 
entire scheme of bidding should be directed to play- 
ing the hand in one of the higher contracts. 

When the declarer's strength lies in a minor suit, 
he should not fail to show help for a higher decla- 
ration, as it is only in this way that the most can be 
got out of the two hands. A player greatly 
simplifies his partner's bid when he accurately de- 
scribes his own hand. 

ADVANTAGE OF PLAYING THE TWO HANDS 

The final declarant is the only one who has 
twenty-six cards under his control: their sole direc- 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



tion rests with him, and the advantage of playing 
the two hands may be reckoned as at least equiva- 
lent to one trick. Often three or four tricks fall to 
the declarant which he would not have made if the 
four hands had been held up. This advantage has 
to be taken into account in estimating the declaring 
value of a hand. In opening the bidding, he has a 
right to expect average assistance from his partner, 
and it is as great a mistake to expect too little as it 
is to expect too much assistance. 

AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION 

An important consideration in the opening bid is 
that it is possible, with the score at love, to win the 
game in six declarations. 

Number of tricks 
Declaration required for game 

No-Trumps Three 

Royal Spades Four 

Hearts Four 

Nullos Four 

Diamonds Five 

Clubs Five 



All the suits are winning suits : no-trumps heads 
the list, as the shortest road to game, and next to 
no-trumps are the two major suits, royals and hearts. 

It has been computed that, roughly, thirty per 
cent of the games are played at no-trumps, and fifty 
per cent at one of the two major suit declarations; 
the remaining twenty per cent being divided between 
nullos (seven per cent), diamonds (eight per cent) 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF BIDDING 



and clubs (five per cent). The number of spade 
hands is negligible. 1 

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE MAJOR AND MINOR 

SUITS 

These figures deserve careful study, as they show 
the relative importance of the major and minor suits. 
While fifty per cent of the deals are played at royals 
and hearts, only twelve per cent are played at dia- 
monds and clubs. An opening bid of a royal or a 
heart is rarely changed for a no-trump, whereas an 
opening bid of a diamond or a club is mainly in- 
formatory, and, when more is known as to the lie 
of the cards, it is frequently changed for no-trump, 
or a major suit. 

It is an established canon of declaring, to show 
top cards in a suit bid. This is quite sound, but the 
four suits cannot be treated exactly alike, and the 
rule must not be carried to the length of not declar- 
ing a major suit, queen or knave high, with a fair 
prospect of game. 

It is necessary to emphasize this point as some 
authorities maintain that the holding of top cards 
in a major suit, before it can be declared in the open- 

1 Statistics are being compiled of a large number of rubbers 
from which these preliminary figures are taken. It is satisfactory to 
note that they closely agree with the percentages recently pub- 
lished by "Ubique" in the columns of a weekly illustrated English 
journal. Ubique's figures are: 



No-Trumps 31% 

Royals 29% 

Hearts 21% 

Diamonds . . . . 12% 

Clubs 7% 

Total 100 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ing round, is de rigeur, and that, unless it is made 
an invariable rule, the whole structure of informa- 
tive bidding would collapse. They speak as though 
it were the rule, and not the exception, for a dec- 
laration in a major suit to be shifted to no-trumps. 
They also presume a second opportunity to enter 
the bidding after the first refusal to speak. 

A declaration of a major suit is not an inform- 
atory bid: it is a scoring bid: the declarant means 
to play the hand. A declaration of a minor suit is 
mainly informatory, and the declarer announces t.op 
cards to some purpose. A diamond or a club should 
indicate ability to fulfil the contract, and it should 
at the same time indicate one or more "quick" tricks 
in the suit, if the partner is able to give the hand 
greater value by declaring no-trump. 

THE REWARD FOR SOUND DECLARATIONS 

The reward for sound declarations is in the main 
greater than the return from good play. Skill in the 
management of the hands will often win an extra 
trick, but most hands really play themselves, and 
the extra trick, as every body knows, is of little im- 
portance unless it helps to win the game or fulfil the 
contract. The correct playing of the hands may at 
times be crucial, as when a double has followed a 
high contract, but the declaration is always vital, and 
an unsound one may easily run into the loss of hun- 
dreds. Admitting that opportunities for subtle play, 
and for bringing off coups, occur in almost every rub- 
ber, and with greater frequency than the average 
player has any idea of, the occasions in which 
the extra trick really counts are comparatively few. 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF BIDDING 



In the large majority of hands, play cannot alter the 
result, in the same way that the bidding can. 

Moreover, skill in playing the hand requires long 
practice and experience, but a good working knowl- 
edge of the theory of the declaration can be acquired 
after a few hours' study. 

The soundness of the subsequent bidding neces- 
sarily depends upon the soundness of the bidding in 
the first round, and that, in turn, is dependent upon 
the soundness of the dealer's opening bid. The 
opening bid is the starting point, and when the ele- 
mentary principles underlying all sound declarations 
by the dealer are grasped, the subsequent bidding 
will be readily understood. 

STRAIGHTFORWARD BIDDING PAYS BEST 

It is the straight game that pays, and it pays best 
in that most important part of the game — the bid- 
ding. The idea that was current in the early days 
of auction, that the dealer should vary his declara- 
tions, is a good poker tip, when a player is playing 
for his own hand, but it is a thoroughly unsound one 
in a game played in partnership. It mystifies no one 
so much as the unfortunate partner, who is seeking 
reliable information about the declarer's hand; and 
it results in bidding at cross purposes, and so de- 
stroys the harmony of the partnership. 

The same thing is true of traps and stratagems 
in the bidding, which are very fine when they come 
off, but they are poor auction. They are usually 
dependent for their success on a mistake of the 
adversaries, and should be attempted only by the 
expert bidder when it is clear to him that the part- 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ner cannot be deceived. A mistake of the opponents 
is always a broken reed to lean upon. 

EFFECT OF NULLOS ON THE BIDDING 

The waiting game had a large camp following at 
Auction Bridge, in the mistaken notion that it was 
subtle bidding. It was little use pointing out that 
there was no subtlety in following a recognized sys- 
tem of bidding. The same notion of subtlety is 
largely responsible for some declarers playing the 
waiting game, and attempting to vary their declara- 
tions under the Royal Count. 

Now that nullos have been invented, there is no 
danger of the bidding becoming stereotyped. 
Nullos have imported endless variety into the bid- 
ding, as they may be held in combination with almost 
any kind of hand, from a fine no-trumper to a trick- 
less Yarborough. They announce nothing to the 
table, except the presence of the low cards, in at 
least three suits, which may or may not be held in 
combination with high ones. Any one wishing to 
play dark should take up nullos. 



\ 



PART II 



THE OPENING BID 
"ONE NO-TRUMP" 

A SOUND NO-TRUMP IS THE BEST OPENING 
DECLARATION 

It has already been pointed out that the side hav- 
ing the deal has the attack; and usually, till more is 
known about the position of the cards, the best line 
of attack is to declare no-trump. 

In the first place, playing without trumps is the 
shortest road to game: this should be the goal of 
the declarant, until he know T s from the other dec- 
larations how the cards lie, and sees his way clear 
to making more than a game is normally worth by 
defeating an adverse contract. 

In the next place, it offers exceptional chances of 
utilizing any strength in the two hands, because the 
scope for assistance from dummy's hand extends to 
all the suits. Every experienced player realizes that 
the declarant's advantages in combining the two 
hands are most telling in playing without trumps. 

The declarant, before he plays a single card, has 
a full knowledge of his resources. The advantages 
of knowing what cards are in his favor, where 
finesses are practicable, and what suits have a chance 
of being established, are in themselves sufficient to 
ensure the odd trick to the declarant with all round 



IS 



1 6 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



average hands; and it often happens that two or 
three tricks accrue to him, which he would have 
failed to obtain if the opponents also had a com- 
plete knowledge of their resources. 

Granting a normal distribution of the cards, that 
is to say that the good cards are evenly distributed 
in the four hands, the side that declares no-trump 
first gains a great advantage by excluding the other 
side from declaring no-trump. It forces the oppo- 
nents to play on the defensive, when they might have 
done very well if they had been the attacking party. 

Other good reasons for opening with a no-trump 
are, that 

1. It requires "two nullos," or a suit-bid of two 

to overcall "one no-trump," and 

2. It conveys information that may be useful to 

the third hand in declaring if the dealer is 
overcalled. 

MINIMUM NO-TRUMPER 

An average hand protected in three suits is the 
minimum strength on which "one no-trump" should 
be declared : 

A Ace, 3, 2 

* King, 8, 7 

* Queen, 9, 6 

* Knave, 10, 5, 4 

This is a strictly average hand, containing a card 
of each denomination from the ace to the two. The 
important cards are the face ones, the honors, ace, 
king, queen, knave and ten. 

If the ace of diamonds is substituted for the queen, 



THE OPENING BID: 



"ONE 



NO-TRUMP' 



i7 



the hand rises as much above the average as an ace 
is above the queen in value : 

A Ace, 3, 2 

* King, 8, 7 

* Ace, 9, 6 

* Knave, 10, 5, 4 

If now the queen of spades is substituted for the 
three the hand will be an ace above the average: 

A Ace, Queen, 2 

* King, 8, 7 

* Ace, 9, 6 

* Knave, 10, 5, 4 

ESTIMATING THE VALUE OF A HAND 

In estimating the declaring value of a hand it is 
important to know how much it rises above, or falls 
below the average. Without a standard measure of 
value, players go guessing at the strength of their 
hands, because it is so difficult to say in the case of 
a mixed hand, in which one or more face cards of 
the same denomination are held, whether it is above 
or below average strength. One form of guessing is 
to assume that an ace is equivalent to a king-queen 
suit and a king-queen to queen-knave-ten. But with 
a hand like this guessing is apt to go wrong: 

A King, 10, 5 

* King, 9, 8 

* King, 10, 6, 2 

* King, 10, 7 

To meet this difficulty I devised in the early days 
of Bridge, a scale of values for the five honors 



i8 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



known as the Robertson Rule. This rule has been 
extensively misquoted and misapplied. It is only 
intended to be applied to honors that are properly 
guarded so as to estimate the strength of a hand 
with a view to determining whether it warrants a 



declaration of no-trump: 

For each Ace count 7 

For each King count 5 

For each Queen count 3 

For each Knave count 2 

For each Ten count 1 



18 

(For illustration, see Illustrative Hands, page 221.) 

Any hand computed in this way, that foots up to 
18, may be regarded as an average hand, no matter 
how the bridge honors are distributed. 

DISCOUNT SINGLETON ACES AND UNPROTECTED 

HONORS 

This scale of values should not be applied to 
singleton aces, nor to unprotected kings, queens, 
knaves and tens ; but every honor in a properly 
guarded suit should be allowed full value. 

For a Singleton Ace count 3 

For an unguarded King count. . . .2 
For an unguarded Queen count. . . 1 

A singleton ace although a certain guard, can be 
forced out in the first round of a suit, and therefore 
loses value in playing without trumps. It makes a 
lot of difference when the command of an adverse 
suit can be retained till the third round. 



THE OPENING BID: "ONE NO-TRUMP" 19 



REQUIREMENTS OF A NO-TRUMP HAND 

An average hand is not in itself sufficient to de- 
clare no-trump. The honors may be massed in one 
or two suits, and the lead will be with an adversary 
— there is the danger of an unprotected suit being 
played. The main requirement of a no-trump hand 
is that it should be protected in three suits, and a suit 
should not be regarded as protected unless it con- 
tains an ace, a king queen, or three minor honors in 
sequence, the queen, knave, ten. Honors not in 
sequence need to be fully guarded: 

King, Knave, 7 
King, 10, 7 
King, 8, 6, 3 
Queen, 10, 3, 2 
Knave, 10, 6, 2 

MINIMUM NO-TRUMPERS 

A Queen, 9, 4 =3 

V Queen, Knave, 5, 3 = 5 

♦ Queen, 8, 7 =3 

* Ace, 6, 4 =7 



V 
♦ 
* 



King, Queen, 10, 2 



9 
3 
3 
3 



Queen, 9, 8 
Queen, 9, 3 
Queen, 8, 6 



♦ 
* 



Queen, 8, 6 



3 



9> 7> 3 

Ace, 10, 6, 5 
Ace, 9, 8 



8 
7 



2o ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



( Mini rn u m No- Tru mpers — Continued ) 

A Knave, 10, 3, 2 =3 

V Ace, King, 7 =12 

♦ 9, 8 === 

* Knave, 10, 4, 3 =3 

— 18 

A Ace, Knave, 9 =9 

V Queen, 10, 4 =4 

♦ King, 8, 7 =5 

* 7> 6, 5, 4 = 

— 18 

A King, 6, 3 =5 
¥ King, 7, 6 =5 

♦ Knave, 10, 8, 4 =3 

* King, 8, 2 =5 

— 18 

AVERAGE HAND XO-TRUMPER 

It is only in the opening bid that an average 
hand, protected in three suits, is good enough for 
"one no-trump. " It has several good reasons to 
recommend it in opening the bidding, but it would 
be an unsound call after an adverse suit bid has 
been made, even if a guard is held in the declared 
suit. 

With an average holding, there is always the 
likelihood of the dealer making an extra trick owing 
to his advantages in playing the two hands; and in 
normal positions it is sound to reckon on the odd 
trick with the assistance of dummy, but once the 
position of the cards is known the situation is 
changed. 

The bid of a no-trump on a strictly average hold- 
ing is distinctly light. The partner must understand 
this, and not raise the bid on insufficient material. 



THE OPENING BID: "ONE NO-TRUMP" 21 



"ONE NO-TRUMP" IN PREFERENCE TO "ONE SPADE'* 

The average hand no-trumper is frequently the 
alternative to calling a spade, and a very good alter- 
native it often proves to be. If the dealer holds 
an average hand and calls a spade, the third player 
will not make an attacking declaration unless he 
has decided strength. A good opportunity may be 
missed of making the game, if the bidding is opened 
with a spade. 

"One spade" will silence the partner, whereas 
u one no-trump" will encourage him to speak. In 
a large majority of cases, most useful information 
is conveyed to the partner when he is told that he 
may rely on the dealer for at least an average 
hand, and no fair opportunity of giving this infor- 
mation should be missed. 

HOLDINGS ABOVE THE AVERAGE 

It follows that any holding above the average 
should also be played without trumps, unless the 
strength of the hand is massed in one suit, and it. 
would be clearly more advantageous to name a 
trump. 

The call of u one no-trump" should as a rule be 
confined to the cases in which three guarded suits 
are held without decided strength in any one suit. 
With this reservation, no-trumps should be called 
with : 

Three aces, 

Two aces and a guarded king or queen in another 
suit, such as king, knave, and one small or queen, 
knave, ten, 

One ace and protection in two other suits, 



22 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



Four kings, all of them being guarded, 
Three kings with some backing, such as two 
queens or a queen and a knave, 

Four queens all fully protected, with knaves. 

THREE-ACE NO-TRUMP ERS 

Three aces, none of them being singletons, have 
from the dawn of Bridge been regarded as a jeu de 
regie no-trump hand, even without another face 
card. But such a hand is under the new conditions 
often a better nullo, than a no-trumper, the adverse 
honors notwithstanding. Such hands have been 
nicknamed "no-trump nullos" and it is well to be on 
the lookout for chances of bidding nullos with such 
holdings, as they are very telling in the bidding. 
The same remark applies to hands containing two 
aces and a guarded king. 

AGELESS NO-TRUMP ERS 

Many forward players who cheerfully declare 
light no-trumps are chary about declaring without 
an ace. An ace is a valuable card in playing with- 
out trumps, as it is a certain guard and a certain 
re-entry, and it also has an honor value. 

When a no-trumper breaks down it is usually be- 
cause the other side held the aces, and before the 
dealer could establish his long suit the other side 
established theirs. But the dealer may count upon 
his partner for at least an ace when his own hand 
is without one. The odds are 9 to 2 on his partner 
holding one or more, and only 6 to 4 against his 
partner holding two or more. With fair protection 
in all the suits the call should not be missed for fear 
of the aces being held adversely. 



THE OPENING BID: "ONE NO-TRUMP" 23 



The odds before the deal are 378 to 1 against 
any given player holding the four aces. After one 
player has looked at his cards and found no aces 
amongst them, the odds are reduced to 114 to 1. 
This includes the partner's chances of holding the 
four aces. The odds against one of the adversaries 
holding them are 56^ to 1. The risk should cheer- 
fully be faced, provided the other requirements of 
the no-trumper are present. 

STANDARD NO-TRUMPERS 
A well protected hand, with something of value 
in every suit, is a most useful kind of hand for the 
call of one no-trump : 



A Ace, 9, 8 =7 

V King, 10, 5 =6 

* Knave, 10, 9, 4 = 3 

♦ King, 8, 7 =5 

Total 21 



Such hands need not be very powerful in them- 
selves, their real value lies in their ability to dove- 
tail with any strength in dummy, and it is mainly 
on this account that they make successful no-trump- 
ers, besides affording valuable support to a trump 
declaration. 

STANDARD NO-TRUMPERS 



A Ace, 7, 3 =7 
V Knave, 10, 8, 2 =3 

♦ Queen, 9, 3 =3 

* King, Queen, 7 =8 

— 21 



24 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 





f \ t si yi // /iy // A7 ai_ '/'■*••»/ ■m -/>/?** c 

( O lUflllUJ CI l\ U~ J. TUTnPcij — 


-Continued) 


* 


Queen, 9, 5 


— 


3 




Ace, King, 7 


= 


12 


♦ 


Knave, 10, 3, 2 


= 


3 




Queen, 8, 3 






* 


King, 10, 3, 2 


= 


6 


V 


Queen, 8, 4 


— 


3 


♦ 


Ace, 7, 5 


= 


7 




Queen, Knave, 6 




c 

J 


* 


King, 9, 3 


= 


5 


¥ 


King, 8, 6 


— 


5 


♦ 


King, 7, 5 


= 


5 


* 


King, 10, 6, 4 




6 


* 


Knave, 10, 7, 3 


= 


3 


¥ 


Ace, 9, 6 


— 


7 


♦ 


Queen, 6, 4 


= 


3 




King, Queen, 8, 2 




8 




Queen, 8, 6 




3 


¥ 


Ace, 10, 4, 2 




8 . 


♦ 


Ace, 9, 6 




7 


* 


Queen, 7, 5 




3 



21 



TWO SUIT NO-TRUMPERS 

There is one exception to the general rule that 
three suits should be guarded, and that is when a 
hand contains six or more ready-made tricks in two 
suits : 



THE OPENING BID: "ONE NO-TRUMP" 25 



(Two Suit No-Trumfers — Continued) 

I A 9, 8, 4 

V Ace, King, Queen 

♦ Ace, King, Queen, 3 

* 7> 6, 5 
II A 10, 8, 6 

^ 8, 4 

♦ Ace, 7 

* Ace, King, Queen, 9, 4 

In these cases, the additional strength of the hand 
makes up for the two unprotected suits, but if one 
of the solid suits is royals or hearts, and there is 
also length in the suit, the dealer should obviously 
declare a trump. 

AGGRESSIVE AND INFORMATORY NO-TRUMPERS 

It will be seen that a no-trumper may be aggres- 
sive, informatory and protective. 

As an attacking declaration no-trumps takes pre- 
cedence of suit bids, as only three tricks are required 
for game from a love score. A well protected hand, 
with an honor in each suit, so as to stop any suit 
of the adversary, is an ideal no-trumper, especially 
when the high cards are evenly distributed, with no 
pronounced strength in a major suit. The chief 
value of such a hand lies in its ability to fit in with 
any strength in dummy's hand. 

One no-trump as an informatory call is very use< 
ful, as it enables the partner to make the best bid oi 
which his hand is capable. The average hand no- 
trumper, protected in three suits, is very different 
from the sporty no-trumper or Addington that used 
to be declared blindfold in the early days of Auction 



26 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



when each trick at no-trump counted twelve, and 
suit calls were easily outbid. If the second player 
is strong enough to overcall the dealer, the latter 
is certainly no worse off than if he had called a 
spade, while he has conveyed information that might 
be helpful to his partner in declaring. 

The no-trumper is very useful as an alternative 
to a spade. "One no-trump" is rarely allowed to 
remain as the final bid. If it is allowed to stand, 
no great harm is likely to result, as it is probable 
the hands are evenly divided, and the declarant's 
advantages in seeing and combining two hands may 
be depended upon to obtain the odd trick required 
to fulfil the contract. 

NO-TRUMPS AND NULLOS 

With the introduction of nullos, the declaration 
of "one no-trump" seldom obtains the contract. 

No-trumps and nullos are at opposite poles. In 
playing no-trumps, the important cards are the aces, 
kings and queens : in playing nullos, the important 
cards are the deuces, threes and fours. Unpro- 
tected suits, especially if they are singletons or blank 
suits, are particularly bad holdings at no trumps, 
and when a no-trumper comes to grief it is usually 
over such holdings: at nullos, blank suits and single- 
tons are elements of strength, and the success of a 
nullo is largely dependent on them. 



PART III 



THE OPENING BID ■ ROYALS AND 
HEARTS 

THE MAJOR SUIT CONTRACTS 

So far as winning the game from a love score is 
concerned, royals and hearts have precisely the same 
value, as four tricks are in both cases required for 
game. They are known as the major suit contracts, 
and about fifty per cent of the games at Royal Auc- 
tion are played at one or the other of these two dec- 
larations as they offer the best chance of making 
game in the deal. Any one who has played Royal 
Auction regularly must have remarked with what 
surprising ease even high contracts in these suits are 
carried through with success. 

The great drawback to no-trump is, that it is so 
liable to be overcalled by the suit declarations; and 
when it is overcalled its points of weakness are laid 
bare so glaringly. 

ROYALS AND HEARTS IN PREFERENCE TO NO-TRUMP 
When a hand admits of any doubt between no- 
trump and one of the major suits, royals or hearts, 
it is a sound rule, that admits of very few excep- 
tions, to give the suit the benefit of the doubt. 

A Ace, King, 10, 6, 4 

V Ace, 6 

♦ King, 9 

* Ace, Knave, 3, 2 

This hand amply fulfils the requirements of a no- 
trumper, and many players cannot resist the temp- 

27 



28 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



tatlon of declaring no-trump, as one trick less is re- 
quired for game from a love score. There is, how- 
ever, such an obvious risk of the short suits being 
established against the declarer before he can estab- 
lish his long suit of spades, that it is unsound to bid 
a no-trump, when there is such an excellent chance 
of game with royals as trumps. Unless the no- 
trumper contain a double guard in each suit, there 
is always the danger of a long suit being made 
against it. 

If in this hand, the spades and the clubs are trans- 
posed, it would be sound to call a no-trump, because 
two tricks more would be required for game with 
clubs as trumps. 

THE EXTRA TRICK 

It needs three tricks in no-trumps, and four tricks 
in royals or hearts, to make game from a love score. 
The bogey of the extra trick is responsible for many 
players declaring no-trump when there is more 
safety and more profit in playing with a trump. 

With length in one suit, there is likelihood of one 
or more suits being short, with considerable risk in 
no-trump. Adversaries have a keen scent for weak 
spots, and will run away with five or six tricks be- 
fore the dealer has a look in. 

Blank suits and singletons are deadly for no- 
trumps. Even if dummy has length in the suit, the 
dealer cannot do much with a singleton to assist in 
establishing it. The risk disappears with a declared 
trump, and a singleton or a blank suit, from a weak 
spot, changes into an asset. 

While a long trump suit soon establishes itself 
even without the high cards, a plain suit lacking in 



ROYALS AND HEARTS 



29 



the high cards needs support in the side suits. Also, 
the holders of the long trump are able with its help 
to bring in any long suit in either partner's hand so 
that in normal positions it is easier to make four 
tricks in royals or hearts than it is to make three 
tricks in no-trumps. 

Experience at the card table shows that high suit 
contracts are easier to carry through with success 
than high no-trump contracts, and they are less lia- 
ble to come to grief when doubled. When a no- 
trump contract breaks down, it is usually a bad 
break-down, which is not the case with a sound 
suit bid. 

With any of the following hands the long suit 
should be called in preference to declaring no-trump. 

"not no-trump" 

A Ace, Queen, Knave, 8, 4 

V Queen, 8, 3 

* King, Queen, 5, 4 

♦ Knave 

A Knave, 10, 9, 8 

¥ Ace, King, 9, 7, 6 

* Ace 

♦ Queen, 10, 3 

A King, Queen, Knave, 7, 2 

V Ace, 10 

* King, Knave, 3 

♦ 10, 9, 7 

A Ace 

V Ace, 10, 9, 7, 6, 2 

* King, 8, 4 

♦ King, Queen, Knave 



30 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE MAJOR AND MINOR 

SUITS 

There is a distinction between the major suit con- 
tracts, royals and hearts, and the minor suit con- 
tracts, diamonds and clubs. A bid in a major suit 
shows a desire to play the hand with the trump 
named, and however strong the partner may be he 
should not, except for cogent reasons, overcall the 
dealer. A bid in a minor suit shows a willingness 
to play the hand with the trump provided the part- 
ner cannot make a better declaration, that is, one 
that offers a better chance of game. The one asks 
for support in the suit named and does not wish to 
be taken out, the other is quite willing to be taken 
out in a more valuable declaration. This differen- 
tiates a bid in a major suit from a bid in a minor 
suit. 

THE EXTRA TRICK REQUIRED FOR GAME 

The additional trick that is required for game 
makes all the difference. Five by cards is difficult 
to get except with overwhelming strength in the 
trump suit as well as strong support in the side suits. 
When therefore there is a doubt between no-trumps 
and the minor suit declarations, the benefit of the 
doubt should be given to the no-trumper. Turning 
to the hands on the preceding page if the major and 
the minor suits are transposed they should all be 
played without trumps as that would be the shortest 
road to game. 

LIGHT SUIT BIDS A MISTAKE 

While there is much to be said in favor of a light 
no-trump, there is no justification for a light suit 
bid. Whether it be a major or minor suit, it should 
contain four fairly certain, and one probable trick; 



ROYALS AND HEARTS 



3i 



and at least two of the tricks should be in the trump 
suit. Unless the hand is able to pass this minimum 
test, it is not a sound suit call. 

The first requirement of a suit bid is that it should 
be headed by top honors, such as, 

Ace, King; Ace, Queen; Ace, Knave; Ace, ten; 
Ace; King, Queen; King, Knave; King, ten. 

With numerical strength only it is generally con- 
sidered better to wait till the second round of the 
bidding. 

This is the general rule that applies to all the suit 
bids, royals, hearts, diamonds and clubs, but while 
there are many exceptions in declaring royals and 
hearts, the rule should be rigidly followed in de- 
claring diamonds and clubs. Freak hands excepted, 
it would be thoroughly unsound if the opening dec- 
laration in a minor suit were made with only nu- 
merical strength. 

Many able declarers show a strange inability to 
appreciate the facts of the situation when they hold 
a strong hand that offers a chance of game in a 
major suit without the top cards in the suit. A 
salient fact is that while fifty per cent of the games 
at Royal Auction are played in the major suit decla- 
rations, less than fifteen per cent are played in the 
minor suit declarations. The additional trick re- 
quired in the minor suits makes all the difference 
between an attacking bid and an informatory one. 
The major suit bids are not informatory, and it 
never was a sound proposition to treat the four 
suits exactly alike. 

A royal or a heart announces a chance of game, 
while a diamond or a club announces only ability to 
fulfil the contract, and means: "I have help for 
you partner if you can make a more paying declara- 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



tion." Here is the parting of the ways between the 
major and the minor suit declarations: the one does 
not seek to be overcalled by the partner, the other 
does. 

ROYALS OR HEARTS? 

"One heart" may be called on precisely the same 
strength as "one royal." From a game-going point 
of view the two bids may be regarded as equally 
valuable. A question that has aroused some dis- 
cussion is what the dealer should do when there is 
a choice betwen them, that is, with fairly equal 
strength in the two suits, should he give hearts or 
royals the preference? It is urged that the declarer 
by first calling hearts gives himself an opportunity 
to branch to royals, if he is doubled, without any 
increase of contract, and the declarer also has an 
opportunity to call royals, if his original heart bid 
is overcalled by an adverse no-trump, and the part- 
ner has failed to raise the heart bid, showing that 
he cannot help in hearts — he may have valuable 
help in royals. 

On the other hand by calling royals first, and 
hearts if necessary on the second round, the part- 
ner is given the opportunity to show that royals suit 
his hand better — without increasing the contract. 

The safe rule to follow with all two suit hands is 
to declare the one of higher value first. 

MINIMUM STRENGTH 

The table that follows shows the minimum 
strength required for an original "one royal" or 
"one heart" bid with the score at love all. With 
any additional strength in the side suits, the chances 
of going game in the hand would be greatly in- 
creased. 



ROYALS AND HEARTS 



33 



TABLE OF "ONE ROYAL" AND "ONE HEART'' BIDS 

Tricks needed in 
the side suits to 
bring the hand 
Estimated number up to the mini- 
of tricks in the mum declaring 
Trump Suit trump suit value 

Certain Probable Certain Probable 



Ace,* King, Queen, Knave. . 


. . 4 








• • 4 








• • 3 


1 


1 


App 1 Dnoen T^no-fo xr\ 


• • 3 


1 


1 




• • 3 


1 


1 




• • 3 




t 




• ■ 4 


1 






• • 4 




1 




• • 4 




1 


\ no ITinrr Q £. n 


• • 4 




1 




• 4 




1 


Arp (1 upon t r~\ A n 






1 


King, Queen, Knave 6 3 


A 








• 3 








3 








•• 3 






King, Queen, 10, 5, 4 


• 3 






King, Queen, 8, 5, 4 


■ ■ 3 






King, Knave, 10, 4, 2 


• 3 








• 3 




[ 1 


King, Knave, 7, 5, 3 


• 3 




[ 1 


King, 10, 7, 5, 3 


3 




[ 1 


Ace, King, 7, 6, 5, 4 


•• 5 






Ace, Queen, 7, 6, 5, 4 


• • 4 


1 




Ace, Knave, 7, 6, 5,^4 


• 4 


1 




Ace, 10, 7, 6, 5, 4 


• 4 




1 


Ace, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 


• 4 




1 


King, Queen, 8, 7, 3, 2 


• • 4 


1 




King, Knave, 8, 7, 3, 2 


• • 4 




1 


King, 10, 8, 7, 3, 2, 


• • 4 




1 



1 The value of honors has to be reckoned in making the declara- 
tion. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



It should be explained what is meant by a certain 
and probable trick: an ace or the king and queen of 
a suit may be regarded as a certain trick; and a 
fully protected king, when the queen is not also 
present, as a probable trick; the queen, knave, ten 
of a side suit is a doubtful trick, but the sequence 
may afford material assistance in playing a major 
suit declaration. When the sequence heads a five 
card suit, its value is greatly increased. All five 
card suits headed by an honor are valuable when 
length in trumps is held. 

Blank suits and singletons are also of great help 
to the declarer, but the mistake of counting the same 
trick twice should be carefully guarded against. /// 
the table of minimum royal or heart hands, the 
trump suit has been appraised at its full value. 

A light royal or heart is a dangerous call, as the 
partner is likely to advance the bid if he has any 
support to offer. A sound rule is for the dealer not 
to call royals or hearts unless he desires to play the 
hand with the trump, and he also desires the part- 
ner's support in the bid if he is overcalled. 

The foregoing table of bids has intentionally been 
framed on a conservative basis, as there are some 
players who still cling to the idea of "showing suit." 
The old theory has been quite discarded in favor 
of a system of conservative suit bids on which the 
declarer is able to play the hand, and which enables 
the subsequent bidding to rest on a sure foundation. 



PART IV 



CONCERNING NULLOS 

VARIOUS TRICK VALUES ASSIGNED TO NULLOS 

Nullos are no-trumpers with a minus value. They 
are reckoned according to the popular valuation at 
8 points a trick, ranking below hearts in the bid- 
ding. 1 The player tries to lose as many tricks as 
possible, th'e fewer the tricks he makes, the greater 
his score. Tricks are reckoned thus : for six tricks 
only, and for each trick under six, 8 points a trick. 

Various trick values have been assigned to Nullos 
by way of experimentation. They were at first given 
precedence of all the suits, and even outranked no- 
trumps, with the result that, at 1 1 points a trick, the 
game was largely nullos. It required a two-bid to 
overcall a nullo, and diamonds and clubs were seri- 
ously disadvantaged, as u four diamonds" or u four 
clubs" were needed to overcall u two nullos." The 
other extreme was tried but was speedily abandoned 

1 The values favored by the leading authorities are: 
Mr. A. R. Metcalfe, n. 
Mr. Fred C. Thwaits, n. 

Mr. R. F. Foster, io ranking below no-trumps. 
Mr. Wilbur C. Whitehead, io ranking below no-trumps. 
Mr. Milton C. Work, io ranking below no-trumps or 8 ranking 
below hearts. 

Mrs. Grace G. Montgomery, 8 ranking below hearts. 
Miss Florence Irwin, 8 ranking below hearts. 
8 is also the popular valuation for the nullo bid in England and in 
India. 



35 



36 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



because when placed below clubs at 5 points a trick, 
the nullo call had only a feeble voice in the bidding. 

Expert opinion is still divided as to whether nullos 
should be valued at 8 points a trick, and placed be- 
low hearts in the bidding or at 10 points a trick and 
placed below no-trumps in the bidding. The 10 
point nullo is merely a reversion to the valuation 
tentatively adopted when the 1 1 point nullo was 
found to be unsatisfactory. Both have the disad- 
vantage of placing too high a premium on the low 
cards, whereas the 8 value hits the happy medium. 
Nullos are then forceful without being obtrusive. 
Their inferior position to hearts, while counting the 
same as hearts, is a happy idea, as they stand at the 
very junction lines of the higher and the lesser con- 
tracts. 



CONCERNING NULLOS 



37 



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38 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



A CONTRACT TO LOSE TRICKS 

All the suits are of equal value in playing nullos, 
that is to say the hand is played without trumps, 
the cards ranking from the ace to the two as in no- 
trumps : everything else is reversed. Instead of the 
high cards, the low ones are the valuable cards — 
instead of winning tricks the declarer tries to lose 
them; and the number of tricks he declares is the 
number he undertakes to force the adversaries to 
win in excess of the book. 

He is allowed six u safe tricks" when he declares 
"one nullo," that is, he contracts to force the adver- 
saries to win the odd trick. When he declares "two 
nullos" he engages to force the adversaries to w T in 
two tricks more than the book of six tricks, when he 
declares "three," "four," "five," "six" and "seven 
nullos" he engages to force the adversaries to win 
three, four, five, six or seven tricks, in excess of the 
book, according to the number he declares. 



When the 


Declarer undertakes 


Contract is 


to win only 


"One" 


Six tricks 


"Two" 


Five tricks 


"Three" 


Four tricks 


"Four" 


Three tricks 


"Five" 


Two tricks 


"Six" 


One trick 



The declarant gets the full benefit of any tricks 
he loses in excess of his contract, just as he would 
do for any tricks scored in excess of his contract in 
any other declaration. Should he, however, take 
more tricks than his contract allows, he is "shy" by 



CONCERNING NULLOS 



39 



the number he makes over his book, and the oppo- 
nents score 50 for each "over" trick. Doubling and 
redoubling affect the trick and penalty scores in the 
same way as they do all other declarations. 

HOW HONORS ARE SCORED 

The honors are the aces, and they are also scored 
contrariwise. In a no-trump contract they score for 
the holders, in a nullo contract they score against 
the holders. Honors are reckoned thus: 

Three aces (held by one or both partners) count 
30 against the side holding the aces, 

Four aces (held conjointly) count 40 against the 
side holding the aces, 

Four aces, all in one hand, count 100 against the 
side holding the aces. 

There is no score for honors if each side holds 
two aces. 

SIZING UP THE CONTRACT 

It is not so difficult as it may appear at the first 
blush to reckon the trick score, as all one need do 
is to count the number of tricks the adversaries of 
the declarant have taken over six. If they have 
taken eight tricks, the declarant has scored "two 
nullos," if they have taken nine tricks, the declarant 
has scored "three nullos," and so on. 

Another way of sizing up the contract is to de- 
duct the amount of the bid from seven — the differ- 
ence indicating the number of "safe tricks" allowed 
the declarer. Thus a bid of "three nullos" would 
mean that the declarer engages to take only four 
tricks, and a bid of "five" that he engages to take 
only two tricks. This is a useful method of com- 
puting the "safe tricks" the declarant is allowed. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ONLY AN ADDITIONAL DECLARATION 

The nullo bid is only an additional declaration 
designed to give the holders of poor cards a voice 
in the bidding, and so, to some extent, to discount 
luck. Royal Auction is no longer to be regarded as 
a game of aces and kings, and one "in which good 
cards must win; the hitherto despised deuces, threes 
and fours are given a distinct bidding value. It is 
the universal experience of players that Royal Auc- 
tion is a most enjoyable game when one holds good 
cards, but is singularly dull and uninteresting as 
"Bascule" points out when one holds a succession of 
bad hands — "there is no other game in which a 
player who is out of luck has so little fun for his 
money and is so powerless." The obvious remedy 
is to try nullos. 

The new bid does not interfere in any way with 
the conventions of the game whether they are val- 
ued at 8 points a trick, or at 10 points a trick. It 
is possible, as stated elsewhere, to go from a table 
at which nullos are played to one at which they are 
not played without any mental disturbance. The 
game remains unchanged so far as its conventions 
are concerned, but one feels that there is something 
missing — the bidding loses much of its piquancy. 

Nullos undoubtedly make the game more versa- 
tile, and they are great as forcers. It is only after 
one has got accustomed to bidding with nullos that 
one finds the bidding tame without them. When 
the bidding goes to "two no-trumps," with all round 
strength, it practically silences everybody. There 
is nothing to threaten the reign of the no-trump 
declarer as monarch of all he surveys except when 
the bidding has been opened with a nullo and the 



CONCERNING NULLOS 



4i 



partner is able to support the bid: then the contest 
becomes keen and spirited. The side having the 
high cards, who would have won by sheer brute 
force, has often to yield to the little cards that are 
now potent factors in the bidding, and need no 
longer hide their diminished heads. 



PART V 



THE OPENING BID: "NULLOS" 

THREE SUITS GUARDED 

Deuces, threes and fours are the cards on which 
the dealer should declare a nullo provided he holds 
a majority of them. They are to the declarer of a 
nullo what the ace, king and queen are to the de- 
clarer of a no-trump; and just as in no-trump the 
declarer should have three suits guarded, in calling 
a nullo he should have three suits guarded with los- 
ing cards. 

This is a point the beginner has some difficulty 
at first in seizing, but the difficulty disappears when 
the perfect nullo hand is considered, and how its 
nullo-perfection may be marred by the presence of 
the high cards so desirable in playing no-trumps. 
The more certain losers the declarer has, the better 
the call, but while the nullo call is contingent on the 
presence of losers, the presence of possible winners 
is no bar to the call, if the winners are properly 
guarded by losing cards. 

A King, 3, 2 

V King, 3, 2 

♦ King, 3 2 

* King, 4, 3> 2 

This would be a perfect nullo except for the four 
kings, but notwithstanding the four kings, it can be 

43 



44 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



readily seen that this hand has rare nullo possibil- 
ities. The kings are not necessarily four tricks, as 
it is possible to play them on the aces, or to discard 
them. 

PROTECTED SUITS 

The point for the beginner to remember is that 
such a combination as Queen, 4, 3, 2 is practically 
as excellent a suit for nullos as the 4, 3, 2, because 
the queen being protected with three certain losers, 
the adversaries cannot force a trick upon the de- 
clarer till the fourth round, and before the fourth 
round arrives it is likely the declarer will have had 
an opportunity of discarding the queen. 

Even with such a suit as King, 10, 5, 3 it is al- 
ways possible to "underplay" the suit so as to es- 
cape making a single trick. The absence of high 
cards is therefore less vital to the nullo bid than the 
presence of low cards. 

Here is a nullo hand with three suits guarded: 

A Ace, 4, 3 
V King, 5, 3 

♦ Queen, Knave, 3, 2 

* 10, 9, 8 

It is easily seen that the worst suit in this hand 
for the nullo bid is the club suit, because there are 
no low cards in it. The 10, 9, 8 of clubs cannot be 
underplayed: they might all be forced to take tricks. 
A combination of high and low cards favors the 
nullo bid, but the "intermediate cards," when held 
without the low ones, bar the nullo bid. 



THE OPENING BID: "NULLOS" 



45 



A YARBOROUGH MAY BE A BAD XULLO 

The dealer need no longer call a spade with a 
poor hand, but it would be a fatal mistake to sup- 
pose that a Yarborough is necessarily a good nullo. 

A 9, 8, 6 

* 9> 8 , 7> 5 

* 9. 8, 6 

* 8, 7, 6 

This would be a very bad nullo, and a very bad 
dummy for the nullo bidder. It holds almost all 
the intermediate cards in the pack, and is lacking in 
the low cards. 

A hand on which the dealer calls a spade should 
be a warning to the partner against bidding riullos. 

It is the cards that hold a central position be- 
tween the high cards ace, king, queen, knave, and 
the low cards 5, 4, 3, 2, and which are known as 
the intermediate cards, the 10, 9, 8, 7 and 6 that 
need to be carefully considered before the dealer 
can call a nullo, because if they are not properly 
guarded with the low cards they can be forced to 
take tricks. 

"bad FOR nullos" 

A 8, 6, 5, 3 

V Knave, 10, 6 

♦ 9) U 

* 10, 7, 4 

A Queen, Knave, 9, 8 

V Knave, 10, 4, 2 

♦ 9> 6, 3 

* 7. 5 



46 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



("Bad for Nullos"— Continued) 

A Ace, 10, 9, 7 

V 6 

* Knave, 7, 6 

* Knave, io, 7, 6, 3 

A Knave, 9, 6, 3 
¥ Ace 

10, 6, 4, 3 



♦ 



* Queen, Knave, 9, 4 

"composite hands" 

There are some hands in which there is no doubt 
about the declaration: they declare themselves, but 
in many cases a choice between two or more decla- 
rations has to be made. With the introduction of 
the nullo call this choice has been greatly extended, 
because strength in nullos may be held in combina- 
tion with strength in no-trumps, or in any suit. 
Nullos have indeed as many phases as the moon. 

There are many openings for nullos that are 
likely to be missed till the declarer gets accustomed 
to looking out for them. This is especially the case 
when the hand offers a sound royal or heart bid: 
A King, Queen, 5, 4, 2 

* Ace, 4, 2 

* 6, 2 

* King, 4, 3 

* 3 

* Ace, King, 6, 3, 2 

* King, 9, 4, 3, 2 

* King, 2 

In the first case, the king and queen of spades 
cannot hurt the hand when there are three "guards" 
in the suit; there is the chance of discarding them, 



THE OPENING BID: "NULLOS 



47 



as well as the other high cards, after the diamonds 
have been played. In the second case, the short 
black suits, and the chances of "ducking" when the 
reds are played, make the hand a nullo of the first 
rank. 

Here are other hands on which a nullo should be 
called in preference to a suit bid: 

A King, 3 

v Ace, Queen, 5, 4, 3 

4 6, 3, 2 

* King, 5, 2 

A King, Knave, 5, 3, 2 
v King, 4, 3 

* King, Queen, 3, 2 

* 5 

All these four hands would be sound suit-bids, 
but they are better nullo bids, and if the partner 
raises the bid to "two nullos," and can be trusted 
to know what he is about, they can be carried to 
"three" and "four nullos" as they are all good 
enough to go game on. If -the partner makes a 
warning bid, the declarer has a chance of coming 
in again with a suit bid. 

There may even be a doubt whether the hand 
should be played as a nullo or a no-trumper. Such 
hands are very telling in the bidding, and have been 
nicknamed nullo no-trumpers. 

"nullos," not "no-trump" 

A King, 6, 4, 3 

* Queen, 3, 2 

* Ace 

* King, Knave, 5, 4, 2 



48 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



("Niellos," Not "No-Trump"— Continued) 

A King, 5, 3, 2 

V King, 4, 3 

* Ace, 2 . 

* King, 7, 3, 2 

A Ace, 9, 3, 2 
V 

* King, Queen, 4, 2 

* Queen, 10, 4, 3, 2 

"nullos," not "royals" or "hearts" 
A 5, 4 

V Ace, Queen, 6, 4, 3 

* 10, 6, 4, 2 

* Ace, 3 

A Ace, 10, 4, 3, 2 
¥ 5, 2 

* King, 4, 3 

* Knave, 3, 2 

* 7. 3> 2 

V Ace, 9, 6, 4, 3, 2 

* Ace 

* 6, 3, 2 

A NON-INFORMATORY DECLARATION 

It must be distinctly understood that when there 
is a choice in the bidding between an attacking dec- 
laration and a nullo, the attacking declaration should 
be preferred unless the hand holds out rare nullo 
possibilities. By calling a nullo the declarer does 
not give up the chance of coming in again, if the 
declaration is overcalled and the partner is unable 
to respond to the nullo bid. 



THE OPENING BID: "NULLOS" 



Players who adopt waiting tactics will readily 
see the advantage of declaring a nullo with hands 
on which it is more useful to get information than 
to give it. The difference between calling a spade 
with such hands and declaring a nullo, is that the 
nullo does not deceive the partner whereas the spade 
does. The nullo is merely non-informatory, it does 
not inform the partner as to the position of the good 
cards but the spade deceives the partner as to their 
position. 

"nullos," not "diamonds" or "clubs" 
A Knave, 6, 3, 2 
V Knave, 2 

♦ King 

* King, Queen, 6, 5, 3, 2 

* 3 

¥ Ace, 2 

♦ King, Queen, 6, 5, 4, 3 

* 8, 7, 4, 3 

♦ Queen, 7, 4, 2 
¥ 

♦ King, 3, 2 

* King, Knave, 10, 6, 3, 2 

"nullos," in preference to a spade 
A Queen, 5, 4, 3 
¥ Queen, 8, 3, 2 

♦ King 

* Queen, Knave, 3, 2 

A Queen, 7, 3, 2 

¥ Knave, 6, 4, 3 

♦ Knave, 8, 4, 2 

* Ace 



5o ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



("Nullos," in Preference to a Spade — Continued) 

A Queen, Knave, 2 

¥ King, 3, 2 

♦ King, 4, 3 

* Queen, 5, 4, 2 

A SPECULATIVE BID 

The nullo, like the no-trump bid, is largely spec- 
ulative. A great deal depends on the two hands 
fitting in. Here is an instance of well-nigh perfect 
dovetailing : 

Declarer's Hand 

* 7> 6, 5, 3 

V Ace, Queen, 5, 3 

* 5. 2 

* King, 5, 2 

Dummy's Hand 

A 10, 8, 4, 2 

¥ King, Knave, 2 

* 4. 3 

* Ace, 4, 3 

However the other cards may be distributed, four 
by cards is a certainty, but, if in the dummy's hand 
the spades and hearts and the diamonds and clubs 
are transposed thus 

Dummy's Hand 

A King, Knave, 2 

¥ 10, 8, 4, 2 

* Ace, 4, 3 

* 4. 3 



THE OPENING BID: "NULLOS" 



the declarer cannot be sure of more than the odd 
trick, although the two hands have practically all 
the nullo cards in the pack. The success of a nullo, 
like the success of a no-trumper, depends a great 
deal upon luck. 

BLANK SUITS AND SINGLETONS 

Blank suits and singletons are- bad holdings in 
playing no-trump, but they are elements of strength 
in playing nullos. A blank suit offers splendid oppor- 
tunities of getting rid of high cards, and next to a 
blank suit, a singleton or a doubleton is very helpful. 
It is mainly when the cards are unevenly distributed 
in the four suits that interesting nullo hands occur. 
Here is one on which any score up to a grand slam 
is possible provided the partner does not come in the 
way. 

A 4 

V Knave, 7, 5, 4, 3 
♦ 

* King, Knave, 10, 7, 5, 4, 2 

It is the exposed hand that the declarer has to 
reckon with. 

THE EXPOSED HAND 

The exposed hand is a great stumbling block to 
the nullo bidder. Dummy's high cards, and the in- 
termediate ones, are targets for the opponents. It 
follows that no high opening bid of nullos should 
under any circumstances be made. But the fear of 
finding a bad dummy should not deter a player from 
calling u two nullos" when he has all four suits pro- 



52 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



tected with low cards before his partner has had a 
voice in the bidding. 

low cards versus high cards 

The nullo bid is valuable as a counterpoise to the 
three major declarations, no-trumps, royals and 
hearts, and especially to no-trumps. It forces the 
holders of good cards to declare them up to their 
full value, or to forego playing for game, and the 
holders of good cards may even be forced to declare 
them beyond their full value, rather than make a 
present of nine or ten tricks to the nullo bidder. The 
better the cards the opponents hold, the more com- 
pact their sequences, the better the stand the nullo 
hand can make against them. The fun of nullos 
comes in when one of the opponents holds four aces. 
Instead of having it all his own way, he is forced 
to bid beyond the limits of safety. He has to take 
a big risk not only to obtain 100, the honor value of 
four aces, but to avoid losing 100 as the aces will 
score against him, a difference of 200 points for 
honors alone. 

A FORMULA FOR THE NULLO BID 

The following formula may be helpful to begin- 
ners in declaring a nullo in the opening bid: 

Count the values of the pips of the two lowest 
cards in every suit reckoning 10 for each court card: 
if the total comes to 35 or less, (and the hand does 
not offer a choice of any other attacking declaration) 
it is a nullo. 

The counting may be done quite easily by tens, 
and if it foots up to much more than three tens, the 



THE OPENING BID: "NULLOS 



53 



beginner had better leave it alone; but if it just 
scales the three tens, it is quite a sound nullo as an 
opening bid. 

Blank suits and singletons are of special value in 
playing a nullo, and they should be taken into ac- 
count in the declaration. In reckoning the nullo 
value of a hand the declarer should deduct 

3 for every singleton suit 
6 for every blank suit. 

If the total after making the deduction comes to 
35 or less, it is a sound nullo. 

The value of the counting system will chiefly ap- 
pear when it is a question of the partner raising the 
nullo bid against an adverse no-trump. There are 
nullos of the first order and there are borderline 
nullos — and nullos that cross the borderline and re- 
quire expert play to see them through. 

The beginner should regard 

Anything up to 20 as a first rate nullo. 

Anything between 20 and 30 as a good nullo. 

Anything between 30 and 35 as a borderline nullo. 

Anything between 35 and 40 as a very doubtful 
nullo. 

Only an expert should risk nullos with a hand 
counting 40. 

No claim is made for the infallibility of this for- 
mula. A formula which takes into account only two 
cards out of a suit of four or more cards, can ob- 
viously lay no claim to accuracy. At the same time 
it is one that will rarely be found to break down 
in practice. It is perhaps necessary to add that when 
the formula is applied to singleton and doubleton 
suits, only half values should be reckoned. 



54 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



Unfortunately in order to make the formula a 
strictly accurate one it would be necessary to so 
complicate it as to render it of no practical use. 
There is the assurance however of those who use it 
that it w r orks very well as it is, and it is therefore in- 
cluded here as a help to the vacillating declarer. 



PART VI 



THE OPENING BID : DIAMONDS AND 
CLUBS 

REQUIREMENTS OF A BID IN A MINOR SUIT 

The well-worn and threadbare saying that Auc- 
tion is a game of aces and kings should be remem- 
bered when the dealer is tempted to declare a dia- 
mond or a club without the top cards. 

The first requirement of a bid in a minor suit is 
that it should be headed by such high cards as 

Ace, King, 

Ace, Queen, 

Ace, Knave, 

King, Queen, Knave, 

King, Queen. 

Queen-suits and knave-suits are barred in the open- 
ing bid because they deceive the partner as to the 
trick-making value of the declared suit. 

With length only, it is always better to wait until 
the second round of the bidding, when the long suit 
may be useful in forcing an adverse declaration, or 
in rescuing the partner. 

The second requirement, common to all suit bids, 
is, that there should, as a rule, not be fewer than 
five cards of the suit called. Strength alone, with- 
out length, is dangerous, as the partner might over- 

55 



56 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



support the bid when he cannot make a more attack- 
ing one. 

FIVE BY CARDS REQUIRED FOR GAME 

Five by cards is a tall order, and as it is so diffi- 
cult to make the game from a love score, the pri- 
mary object in declaring diamonds and clubs should 
be to convey useful information to the partner re- 
garding the high cards in the declared suit. A bid 
of "one diamond" or "one club" is therefore mainly 
informatory. While it should show ability to play 
the hand with the trump named, it should at the 
same time indicate one or more "quick tricks" in the 
suit, if the partner is able to make a more paying 
declaration. 

If the call will not help the partner to declare no- 
trump, it may at least help to direct his lead against 
a no-trump. Hence the dictum, "any suit that is 
worth having led is worth a bid." 

At the same time it is an accepted convention that 
there should be no unplayable suit bids, that is to say 
no player should name a suit trump unless he is able 
to play the hand, and to fulfil his contract, in the 
suit. 

INFORMATORY BIDS OF DIAMONDS AND CLUBS 

Before the Royal count was invented, informatory 
bids of diamonds and clubs were made with the 
object of leading up to no-trump. A large majority 
of hands were played without trumps, and the suit 
declarations (hearts excepted) were looked upon as 
invitations to no-trump. 

The minor suit declarations have now acquired 
greater importance as it is possible to win the game 



DIAMONDS AND CLUBS 57 



from a love score in both diamonds and clubs, while 
the competing value of the no-trumper has been re- 
duced from 12 to 10. 

This is an important consideration, but it is not 
very helpful to obtain the contract unless the de- 
clarer has a fair chance of making the game. 

"partial games" 

The inexpert bidder has a weakness for partial 
games. He has an idea that if he advances his 
score to a useful stage he will have a better chance 
of game in the next deal. There are no stepping 
stones to game in Royal Auction; game is usually 
reached at one bound. 

But if the declarer's score places diamonds or 
clubs within four tricks of game, they naturally be- 
come as valuable from the game-winning point of 
view as royals or hearts with a love score. The 
score then promotes the minor suits to the rank 
of the major suits. 

DISTINCTION BETWEEN A MINOR AND A MAJOR SUIT 
DECLARATION 

It is incorrect under the new conditions to regard 
diamond and club bids as purely informatory, but 
it is equally incorrect to regard them as game-win- 
ning declarations, and to place them in the same 
category as royals and hearts. 

While the table of minimum royal and heart bids 
is applicable to diamond and club bids, the main re- 
quirement of a major suit declaration is length, 
whereas the main requirement of a minor suit dec- 
laration is strength. 



58 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



Opening bids in the minor suits may be made when 
only four trumps are held for the purpose of convey- 
ing information to the partner. Such holdings as 

Ace, King, 10, 6 ] with one prob- 

Ace, Queen, Knave, 6 [ able trick outside 
Ace, King, 7, 6 the trump suit. 

King, Queen, Knave, 6 | with an ace in 

\ a side suit. 

King, Queen, 9, 6 }with an ace and king 
\ in a side suit. 

would be bad opening bids at royals or hearts, but 
quite sound opening bids at diamonds and clubs. 

DANGER OF DECLARING A MINOR SUIT WITH FEWER 
THAN FIVE TRUMPS 

It should be clearly understood that informatory 
bids, leading up to more paying declarations, should 
be confined to a good diamond or club suit of not 
fewer than four cards in which the declarer is pre- 
pared to play the hand. On no account should a 
three card suit (even ace, king, queen with an outside 
ace) be declared trumps. 

The fear that the partner might advance the bid 
to two, or even three, has to be taken into account. 
But if the dealer is to w T ait until he holds length, as 
well as high cards, in the suit, his chances of declar- 
ing are greatly diminished, and opportunities will 
be lost of affording useful information to the part- 
ner. The bidder has to steer a mean course between 
the danger of his partner advancing the bid, and the 
danger of deceiving him as to the character of the 



DIAMONDS AND CLUBS 



59 



dealer's hand. With such four-card holdings as 
those given above the alternative to declaring a 
minor suit would be a spade, which w T ould be mis- 
leading to the third player. 

The partner should not advance the bid unless he 
holds some strength in the suit, and sufficient outside 
support to fully justify his raising the bid: if this is 
understood the danger of calling from a four-card 
suit disappears. 

INFERENCES TO BE DRAWN FROM THE BID 

The inferences the partner should draw from the 
bid of "one diamond," or "one club" are: 

1. That the declarer has two tricks in the suit 

named, 

2. That the declarer's hand is good enough for 

four probable tricks w T ith the trump named, 

3. That the declarer has not less than four 

trumps, and that he has an expectation of 
winning the odd trick w r ith average support 
from his partner. 

The information regarding the high cards in the 
declared suit will help the partner in calling no- 
trumps, or one of the tw T o game-winning suits, royals 
and hearts. 

If the partner knows he can trust the declarer for 
two tricks in the suit named, it greatly simplifies 
his declaration as well as the play of the hand against 
an adverse attacking declaration. 

It is precisely on such information that the maxi- 
mum combined values of the two hands can be ob- 
tained, but if the call in a minor suit is restricted 
to cases in which both length (five or more cards) 



6o 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



and strength are held, much useful Information is 
liable to be withheld. 

NO-TRUMP IN PREFERENCE TO DIAMONDS AND 
CLUBS 

When there is a choice between no-trump and one 
of the minor suits, no-trump should be given the 
benefit of the doubt, provided at least three suits 
are protected. When only tw r o suits are protected, 
it is safer to name a trump unless the hand contains 
six or more ready made tricks in two suits, such as: 

I A Ace, 2 

V 10, 9, 4 

♦ Ace, King, Queen, 8, 6 

* 9, 6 

II A 8, 4 

V Ace, 7 

♦ io, 8, 3 

* Ace, King, Knave, 8, 6, 4 

With hands of this character, the chance of mak- 
ing the game in no-trump should not be missed. 

Whenever there is a choice in the declaration, the 
decision must depend on which declaration offers the 
better chance of winning game. Four tricks are 
more likely with a trump than without a trump, 
therefore a call in the major suits, royals and hearts, 
should be preferred to playing without trumps. On 
the other hand, three tricks without trumps are more 
likely to be made than five tricks with a declared 
trump, and therefore no-trumps should be selected 
in preference to a call of diamonds or clubs. 



DIAMONDS AND CLUBS 



NO-TRUMP IN PREFERENCE TO A DIAMOND OR A 
CLUB 

A King, Queen, 4 

V 8 

* Ace, Knave, 10, 8, 3, 2 

* King, 10, 6 

A King, 8, 6 

V Ace, 3, 2 

* Ace, King, 7, 6, 4 

* 8,5 

A Ace, 10, 3 

V Knave, 8 

* King, Queen, Knave, 6, 3 

* Queen, Knave, 8 

A 8, 4 

V 9, 7, 6 

> Ace, 10 

* Ace, King, Queen, 6, 5, 4 

A 8, 6 

V King, 2 

* King, Queen, Knave 

* Ace, King, 10, 7, 6, 2 

A 10 

V King, 8, 6 

* King, Queen, 6 

* Ace, King, Queen, Knave, 6, 2 



PART VII 



OPENING BIDS OF "TWO" "THREE" AND 

"FOUR" 

NO INFLEXIBLE RULE FOR DECLARING 

A great deal has been written about the futility 
of shut-out or pre-emptive bidding. A shut-out bid 
is an effort, frequently attended with failure, on the 
part of the declarer to prevent either adversary dis- 
closing the strength of his hand to the other, with a 
view to thwart the possible establishment of a no- 
trump or other adverse game-winning declaration. 
In nine cases out of ten, such bidding is unnecessary, 
but in the tenth case it may be very effective. There 
is no inflexible rule for declaring. 

It is unnecessary for the dealer to bid "two" when 
a bid of "one" will be equally effective in obtaining 
the contract. But when the cards "pack," as so fre- 
quently happens in Auction, the bidding has a tend- 
ency to run high, if the partners playing against the 
dealer are allowed to get into conversation. When 
the dealer has an exceptional holding, he should be 
on the look out for exceptional holdings in the 
other three hands. 

FREAK HANDS 

"Ace of Spades" speaking of the common com- 
plaint of the cards "packing," points out that when 
one player finds seven or more cards of a suit in his 

63 



64 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



hand, the probabilities are strongly in favor of some 
other suit being found similarly monopolized by the 
other players. This abnormality may extend to the 
holding of the high cards, or to the numerical dis- 
tribution. In either case, it has an important bear- 
ing on the declaration. 

When freak hands occur, and every player knows 
the frequency with which they do occur, there is 
likely to be high bidding on both sides. With a long 
trump suit, each side has a good chance of making 
the game; and if the rubber game is being played 
the bidding naturally gets brisk in the effort to se- 
cure the contract, and to keep the other side from 
going game. 

WHEN TO DISCOURAGE ADVERSE BIDDING 

The dealer has the first opportunity to speak, and 
when he has a "scoring" declaration open to him he 
has to decide whether he will give the other side a 
chance to speak, or whether he should declare up 
to the full value of his hand, and thus, if possible, 
silence adverse bidding. This is where the advan- 
tage of the deal comes in, and the problem before the 
dealer is, whether it is to his advantage to encourage, 
or to discourage adverse bidding. 

With all-round strength, it is advisable to encour- 
age adverse bidding as it increases the chances of 
penalizing rash bids. Moreover, it is generally ad- 
visable to give the partner an opportunity to speak. 
But if the dealer's strength is entirely, or almost en- 
tirely, contained in one suit, and he has pronounced 
weakness in a major suit, it is likely that one of his 
opponents holds strength in that suit, and the dealer 
might later be forced beyond his depth, and be com- 



BIDS OF "TWO" "THREE" AND "FOUR" 65 



pelled to leave one of his opponents to play the 
dummy hand, and possibly make the game. When 
this risk is present, it is advisable to shut out any 
opposing bid. 

THREE CONDITIONS NECESSARY 

The assumption of a bigger contract than is 
strictly necessary is justified only 

1. When the hand warrants the bid, 

2. When the declarer does not wish his partner 

to change the bid, 

3. When the declarer has reason to fear an ad- 

verse bid. 

When all these conditions are present the dealer 
should pre-empt the bid, but seldom or never other- 
wise. 

"two no-trumps" 

There are disadvantages in opening the bidding 
with u two no-trumps." It may shut out a productive 
bid of the partner, with potential honors, and it un- 
necessarily discourages adverse bidding, which it is 
to the dealer's advantage to encourage when he 
holds a strong all-round hand. 

Ordinarily, an opening bid of "two no-trumps" 
should be made only with such rare holdings as six 
established diamonds or clubs, and another ace. 
The object of the "two" bid is to prevent the adver- 
saries from disclosing their strength, especially in 
the major suits. It handicaps them in bidding, as 
well as in leading. It compels them to open with 
"three royals," "three hearts" or "three diamonds," 
or to leave the dealer to play the hand. 



66 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



In the majority of cases, the dealer is allowed to 
play the hand, as it is a big risk to call "three" in a 
suit, over "two no-trumps, " without hearing from 
the partner; and the dealer secures the further ad- 
vantage of a blind lead from the second player. 

"two no-trumps" 

A Ace, 6 

¥ 8, 6 

* Ace, King, Queen, 5, 4^ 3 

* 7. 5. 4 

A 7, 6 

V King, 6 

* King, 5, 4 

* Ace, King, Queen, 6, 5, 4 

* 6 ; . 5 

V King, Queen, 7 

* 6, 5 

* Ace, King, Queen, 5, 4, 3 

"Two no-trumps" is particularly effective in play- 
ing the rubber game, as the other side are likely to 
take long chances in the effort to keep the dealer 
from going game. It is practically the only time 
when the bid should be made with all-round strength, 
because it offers a rare chance of penalizing rash 
bids; and w T hen it is not overcalled, it secures a blind 
lead from the second player. 

SUIT BIDS OF "TWO" 

There is a marked distinction between an open- 
ing bid of "two" in a major suit, and an opening 
bid of "two" in a minor suit. 



BIDS OF "TWO" "THREE" AND "FOUR" 67 



A bid of "two royals" or "two hearts" is an effort 
to shut out adverse bidding, and to intimate to the 
partner a desire to play the hand in the declared 
trump. It is a "scoring" bid which discourages the 
partner from overcalling except for very cogent 
reasons. 

A bid of "two diamonds" or "two clubs" is, on 
the other hand, an informatory bid, which invites 
the partner to give the hand greater value, if pos- 
sible, by overcalling in a game-winning declaration 
— preferably no-trumps. The caller has no particu- 
lar desire, as he has in the case of a major suit bid 
of "two" to play the hand in the declared suit. 

The bids are made under entirely different condi- 
tions, and with entirely different holdings, and it is 
necessary to emphasize this, in order that there 
should be no misunderstanding. 

"two royals" and "two hearts" 

To justify an opening bid of "two royals," or 
"two hearts," the dealer's hand should be worth 
at least six tricks. 

A King, Queen, 10, 6, 5, 4 



V 8 

* Ace, Queen, 5, 4 

* 7,6 

* 6 

V King, Queen, Knave, 9, 6, 4 

* 9, 8 

* Ace, Knave, 6, 2 
A Ace, King, 9, 7, 6, 4 



♦ 
* 



3 

9,8,6 

King, Queen, Knave 



68 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



("Two Royals" and "Two Hearts" — Continued) 
A 5, 2 

V Ace, Queen, Knave, io, 8, 7 

♦ King, Knave, 8, 5 

* 6 

FEEBLE SHUT-OUT BIDS 

The dealer may call "two hearts" on the same 
strength as he would call "two royals," but an open- 
ing bid of "two hearts" is only a feeble effort to 
shut out adverse bidding. The heart suit has the 
chance of being overcalled by the same number of 
royals, and, when it is a question of numerical 
strength only, the latter suit is decidedly the more 
valuable as a shut-out bid. 

When the dealer wishes to pre-empt the bidding, 
he should do it in royals. Royal bids are so effect- 
ive because they require an extra trick in hearts, and 
the same number of tricks in no-trumps, to overcall 
them. 

"two diamonds" and "two clubs" 

It has gradually been recognized as a convention 
that a bid of "two" in a minor suit means a solid 
suit, an ace, king, queen to five or more, and nothing 
else of value in the hand. Although incidentally 
these calls shut out bids of "one" in any declaration, 
their purely informatory character should be clearly 
understood. 

It is also a convention with some players to pass 
the declaration when holding a suit of clubs, such as 
ace, king, queen to six, and nothing else of value in 
the hand. It must be distinctly understood that this 
is only when the dealer holds strength in clubs, and 
not in diamonds. The dealer passes in the hope of 



BIDS OF "TWO" "THREE" AND "FOUR" 69 



an adverse no-trump being declared, and he would 
obviously frustrate his object if he were to announce 
strength in clubs. 

There is little point in making this distinction be- 
tween two suits of equal game-making value, but the 
real objection to the convention is that it withholds 
information that may be useful to the partner in de- 
claring. This is the weak point of passing the dec- 
laration with any good hand. The better the hand, 
the better the reason for declaring. 

Two players, who exchange information in the 
bidding, are better able to combine their hands for 
attack and defense, and to arrive at the most paying 
bid of which the two hands are capable, than two 
others who conceal their holdings in order to lie in 
wait for the adversaries. 

"two diamonds" and "two clubs" 

A Knave, 3 

* 9> 7 

* Ace, King, Queen, 6, 5, 4 

* 10, 8, 2 

* 8,4 

* Queen, 3, 2 

* Ace, King, Queen, 9, 7, 6 
A Queen, 4 
■J I0 > 4> 3 

* Ace, King, Queen, 6, 4 



* 



7> 5> 4 



* 8, 7 
¥ 10,3 

* Knave, 8, 2 

* Ace, King, Queen, 8, 5, 4 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



SUIT BIDS OF THREE 

A bid of "three" in a major suit, royals or hearts, 
should mean that the declarer's hand is good enough 
for at least seven tricks. 

A bid of "three royals" is especially useful in 
shutting out adverse hearts, as a player must be ex- 
ceptionally strong to risk "four hearts" as an origi- 
nal bid without having heard from his partner. 

A bid of "three" in a minor suit, diamonds or 
clubs, should mean that the declarer has a reasonable 
expectation of making the game, or that the hand is 
of no value except with the declared trump. 

With unusual length in a minor suit without the 
requisite strength to aid a no-trump declaration, an 
opening bid of "three" is useful both to shut out ad- 
verse bidding and to warn the partner. 

The distinction between a bid of "two" in a minor 
suit as an informatory bid showing assistance for no- 
trump, and a bid of "three" to show that the hand 
is of no value in no-trump should be thoroughly 
grasped. 

"three royals" and "three hearts" 
A Queen, Knave, 10, 9, 6, 3 

¥ 4 . 

* King, Queen, 10, 7 

* Ace, King 

A King, Queen, 10, 7, 6, 5 

* 6,5 

* Ace, 2 

* King, Queen, 3 



BIDS OF "TWO" "THREE" AND "FOUR" 71 



("Three Royals" and "Three Hearts" — Continued) 
A 4 

V Ace, King, 10, 9, 7, 5 

* Queen, Knave, 8 

* Ace, Queen, 10 

* 5 

V Queen, Knave, 9, 8, 7, 6 

* Ace, King, Knave 

* Ace, 8, 6 

'"THREE DIAMONDS" AND "THREE CLUBS" 

* 8 

V 4 . 

* King, Queen, Knave, 10, 5, 4, 3 

* Ace, King, Knave, 4 

* 

V King, Queen, 4 

* Queen, 10, 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 

* Ace, Queen 

A 9, 4 
¥ 

* King, Queen, Knave, 4 

* Ace, Queen, 9, 8, 6, 5, 3 

A 6, 2 

V Ace, King, Queen 

* 7 

* King, Knave, 10, 7, 4, 3, 2 

SUIT BIDS OF "FOUR" 

The assumption of a high opening contract should 
as a rule be reserved for the rubber game. 

It requires a phenomenal hand to make an open- 
ing suit bid of "four." There is general agree- 



72 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ment that if It is in a major suit it should announce 
nine sure tricks, and if it is in a minor suit it should 
announce ten sure tricks. The dummy hand is only 
relied upon for one trick to make the game, a trick 
that usually accrues to the player of the two hands. 

A high bid is unsound unless in the first place 
the declarer is able to make his contract, and even 
then it is only justified if the declarer fears an ad- 
verse bid, or he does not want his partner to change 
the declaration. 

The main idea in shut-out bidding is that the de- 
clarer fears that, later in the bidding he may be 
forced beyond his depth. It is accepting a small 
initial risk to save a bigger risk later, but the as- 
sumption of any risk is rarely right except in play- 
ing the rubber game. 

"When in doubt bid one" is a sound rule for the 
opening bid. 



PART VIII 



THE OPENING BID: SPADES 

Spade bids have to be considered under three 
separate heads : 
"One Spade" 
"Two Spades" 
Multiple Spades. 

"one spade" 

When the dealer's holding is below the average 
or it is below the minimum required for a bid in a 
major or a minor suit, and he has not the low cards 
required for a nullo bid, he should call a safety 
spade. The eagerness some players display to bid 
on border line hands is bad enough, but bids are 
sometimes made on hands below the border line with 
no reasonable hope of the game. 

The dealer's "one spade" denotes the absence of 
an average hand protected in three suits. It does 
not deny the holding of a long weak suit headed 
by a queen or knave, or the holding of a short suit 
headed by ace and king. The dealer's cards may 
be quite good enough to re-enter the bidding in the 
second and subsequent rounds. He may have a 
good forcing hand to overcall an adverse bid, or a 
good supporting hand to raise the partner's bid. He 
must be careful to make no false announcement in 
the opening bid. 

73 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



Before nullos were introduced into the game 
u one spade" used to be called on any hand ranging 
from a Yarborough, without the vestige of a trick 
to a no-trumper totalling up to 18 or more accord- 
ing to the Robertson scale. The sporty no-trumper 
and the nullo bid have come to the dealer's rescue. 
It is always better to call a no-trump in preference 
to calling a spade on an average hand; and the nullo 
has made an absolutely tiickless hand often as valu- 
able as a good no-trump hand — provided the low 
cards necessary for a nullo are held, otherwise a 
spade and a nullo are mutually repellant and con- 
tradictory. 





"not nullos" 


* 


Queen, 6, 5 




10, 9, 6, 2 




9. 8- 7 


* 


Knave, 4, 2 




10, 8, 3 


V 


Knave, 10, 5, 2 


♦ 


Queen, 6, 4 


* 


10, 8, 6 


* 


9. 


V 


King, Queen, 6, 5 




9, 8, 6, 3 


* 


Knave, 10, 8, 2 




10, 9, 6, 2 


V 


6, 5> 


♦ 


Knave, 9, 5, 4 


* 


Knave, 7, 6 



THE OPENING BID: SPADES 



"waiting hands" 

Players who believe in varying their declarations 
will sometimes call a spade with a good hand to hear 
what the other three players have to say. 

The idea is that with a good hand the dealer 
should let every source of information be free, as 
it is greatly to his advantage to hear what the part- 
ner has to say, as well as what the opponents have 
to say. He should learn all he can about the posi- 
tion of the cards : he can then decide whether to go 
for game or to play to defeat an adverse bid. 

The dealer assumes that he will have another 
opportunity to speak, and he also assumes that the 
opponents will bid. It has already been pointed out 
that there is no certainty about adverse bidding, 
and many a player who has lain in wait for an ad- 
verse bid is still waiting. The opponents will not 
be obliging enough to bid unless they have the ma- 
terial for bidding. There is no guarantee that the 
other players will not pass, and then the dealer's 
good hand will be thrown away. Of course, the 
dealer will take no risk if he has a very good hand, 
but even if he employs these tactics with a moder- 
ately good one there is the risk of the other players 
passing. 

But the real disadvantage is that the dealer's 
spade is discouraging to the third player, who will 
not bid unless he has pronounced strength. Even 
if he is aware of the dealer's tactics, he can never 
be certain whether he should pass or make a venture- 
some bid. He may just be bidding at the wrong 
time. 



76 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



SOME WAITING HANDS DISCUSSED 

A King, Knave, 7 

V King, Knave, 8 

♦ Knave, 10, 4, 2 

* King, 3, 2 

A Queen, Knave, 9, 2 

V King, 10, 8 

♦ King, Knave, 6 

* King, 10, 7 

If the dealer calls a spade with any of these hands 
the chances of the third player making any declara- 
tion are remote. The most the dealer can expect is 
a suit bid from one of the adversaries, and if this is 
the kind of information he is looking for whatJs 
he going to do with it when he gets it? Assum- 
ing the second player declares "one heart," what is 
the dealer going to do when the bidding comes round 
to him? If he declares u one no-trump, " the second 
player will know he stops the heart suit, and he will 
not go to "two hearts," as he may have done if the 
opening bid had been a no-trump. The dealer 
really gains nothing, and he may lose the chance of 
a profitable double. 

Another "waiting hand" is when the dealer has 
a solid suit of clubs, six or more to the ace, king and 
queen and nothing else of value in the hand — when 
he hopes for an adverse no-trump declaration, and 
he is likely to frustrate his object by announcing 
strength in clubs. This is a tempting hand with 
which to lie low for an adverse no-trump, but the 
chances in favor of the no-trumper being declared 
are small, and against a suit bid the hand has little 



THE OPENING BID: SPADES 



77 



value as the club suit is likely to be the declarer's 
short suit. 

A system that affords the most information to the 
third player, that enables him to know whether or 
not the dealer's opening bid is a strong call to be 
supported, or whether it is merely an informatory 
call to allow a better declaration to be made by the 
third player, possesses many advantages over any 
system of waiting. 

"two spades" 

It is questionable whether It is ever sound to de- 
clare more than u one spade." Law 42 compels the 
dealer to make a bid, even when he would rather 
not take any part in the auction — it is an unheard 
of thing at any auction that one must bid, but as 
the law stands the dealer must make a declaration 
even when he has nothing to declare. Law 48 con- 
siderately comes to his rescue by decreeing that the 
loss on the dealer's declaration of "one spade" 
shall be limited to 100 points, whether doubled or 
not, unless redoubled. 

Any bid of more than "one spade" forfeits the 
protection allowed by Law 48, and it obliges the 
partner to take the declarer out. 

The "two spade" bid was very useful under the 
old count. Owing to the inflated value 12 assigned 
to no-trumps it was important to show the partner 
a subsidiary no-trump hand. The "two spade" bid 
acquired a special orthodoxy of its own. It was uni- 
versally understood, and players had got so accus- 
tomed to it, that it readily found a place in the newer 
form of the game, in which the no-trump was given 



78 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



a reduced value and there was a new declaration to 
be provided for. 

Various meanings to suit the new conditions were 
attached to the u two spade" bid, but the one that is 
now most generally used, is one that indicates help 
for the two highest declarations no-trumps and 
royals. As the spade is the most valuable suit the 
dealer should not miss the opportunity to show as- 
sistance in the suit in his opening bid. 

'Two spades" should always indicate strength 
without length in spades and a hand that can lend 
assistance to both no-trumps and royals. 

The "two spade" bid has the disadvantage that is 
inherent in all conventional bids, the partner has to 
take the declarer out of his bid, and both the rescuer 
and the rescued are handicapped in the subsequent 
bidding, because it is difficult to judge how far it is 
safe to raise the bid. 

MULTIPLE SPADE BIDS 

Bids of "three," "four," "five," "six" and "seven" 
spades have been invented to give the partner a 
photograph of the declarer's hand. The idea of 
arriving at the most paying bid of which the two 
hands are capable is admirable, but the means to 
achieve it are the worst possible. 

These bids force upon the third player the fre- 
quently difficult task of rescuing the declarer. 
When a player makes a conventional bid to which 
his partner can not respond, he commits auction hari 
kari y by placing himself in a position from which his 
partner is unable to extricate him. 

The adversaries will not, or at least should not, 
come to his aid; they have merely to adopt the ex- 



THE OPENING BID: SPADES 



79 



pedient of passing the conventional bid, and they 
can come in again, if it suits them, in the second 
round of the bidding. 

A good man struggling with difficulty is a spectacle 
the gods themselves behold with approval, but a 
foolish man who deliberately places himself in a 
tight corner, from which he asks to be extricated 
has no right to anyone's sympathy. 

Whatever might be urged in favor of the "two 
spade" bid as showing an assisting hand for the two 
most important declarations royals and no-trump, 
there is no excuse for "three," "four," "five," "six" 
and "seven spades." 

Apart from these bids being unsportsmanlike; 
futile, as they are seldom available; and intrinsic- 
ally unsound, owing to the obligation they impose 
on the partner to rescue the bidder; there is an un- 
certainty about their meanings which largely detracts 
from their use. One glaring instance must suffice. 
Unless there is a previous understanding between 
partners the original call of "three spades" may 
mean one of two totally different things: 

1. It may mean long weak spades , with the top 

honors missing, and two or more tricks in 
the side suits, or 

2. It may mean long weak hearts, with the top 

honors missing, and two or more tricks in 
the side suits. 

Both are "recognized conventions." 

The "high-spade" bidder uses the "three spade" 
call as a device to indicate long weak hearts and re- 
serves the "four spade" call to indicate long weak 
spades. And he uses the higher bids of "five," "six" 



8o ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



and "seven spades" to indicate a choice between two 
declarations in his hand— the choice being left to the 
third player. 

"Five Spades" shows a hand that would be use- 
ful with either hearts or royals for trumps, without 
much assistance for no-trumps. 

"Six Spades" shows a hand that would be useful 
for either hearts or no-trumps, without much as- 
sistance for royals. 

"Seven Spades" shows a hand that would be use- 
ful for either royals or no-trumps, without much as-, 
sistance for hearts, 

The professional air about these bogus bids re- 
volts against one's sense of fair play. The keenest 
perception of the strategy of the game, the finest 
intuition, the profoundest logical skill, the fullest 
power of deductive reasoning will not enable a 
player to know, unless there is a previous under- 
standing, that "three spades" indicates the posses- 
sion of long weak hearts in the declarer's hand, or 
that "five spades" called over "one royal," as a 
secondary bid, indicates that the declarer holds good 
cards, in the other three, suits, hut is weak in spades. 
Here are bids furiously pretending to be what they 
are not. 

MEANING OF SPADE BIDS 

If the spade bids are to be used there should be 
no uncertainty as to their meanings. 

"One Spade" should mean: "Partner, I have no 
suit long enough and strong enough to declare, I 
have not three guarded suits, with an average hold- 
ing to enable me to declare no-trump, and my hand 
does not hold out nullo possibilities." 



THE OPENING BID: SPADES 



81 



"Two Spades" should mean: "Partner, I have 
strength without length in spades and can aid a royal 
or a no-trump declaration. Any strength that is 
lacking in the spade suit is made up by strength in 
the side suits — I have at least one sure "trick in 
spades. " 

"Three Spades" should mean: "Partner, I have 
long weak hearts with some support in the side suits. 
My hand is worth at least four tricks if you make 
hearts trumps." 

"Four Spades" should mean: "Partner, I have 
long w T eak spades with some support in the side 
suits. My hand is worth at least four tricks if you 
make royals trumps." 

"Five Spades" should mean: "Partner, you may 
call 'two royals' or 'two hearts,' whichever suits 
your hand best. I can aid both these declarations, 
but please avoid no-trumps." 

"Six Spades" should mean: "Partner, you may 
call 'two no-trumps' or 'two hearts,' whichever 
suits your hand best. I can aid both these declara- 
tions, but please avoid royals." 

"Seven Spades" should mean: "Partner, you 
may call 'two no-trumps' or 'two royals,' which- 
ever suits your hand best. I can aid both these 
declarations, but please avoid hearts." 



PART IX 



DECLARATIONS BY THE SECOND 
PLAYER 

The second player enjoys the advantage of having 
heard from one of his opponents, but this advantage 
depends on whether the dealer has 

1. Made a defensive declaration of u one spade/' 

2. Made an informatory bid, 

3. Made an attacking bid, or 

4. Called a nullo. 

When the dealer has called a spade, all the ad- 
vantages of the attack are passed on to the second 
player, and any declaration at the score of love, rec- 
ommended as an opening bid, is open to the second 
player. 

PASSING THE DEALER'S SPADE 

When the dealer has called a spade and the second 
player has fair strength in spades not good enough 
to call royals he has the choice of doubling the deal- 
er's bid, of calling two spades or of passing to hear 
what the third player has to say. 

In a large majority of cases it is best for him to 
pass the dealer's spade unless he has something more 
than the minimum holding required for an opening 
bid. If the dealer's spade be left in there is a chance 
of scoring 100 penalty points, and the chance should 
not be lightly missed. 

83 



84 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



NO-TRUMP WHEN THE DEALER HAS CALLED A SPADE 

The second player Is In an excellent position to de- 
clare a no-trump, which he may call every whit as 
light as the dealer, because, ex hypothesi, the hand 
to his right will not have many opportunities of 
playing through him. Moreover, the dealer having 
announced weakness, his partner may be credited, 
with something more than average strength. 

No-trump is the second player's best line of at- 
tack, because it forces the third player to pass, or 
to assume a two-trick contract with the knowledge 
that he has little support to expect from the dealer. 

SUIT BIDS WHEN THE DEALER HAS CALLED A SPADE 

When the dealer has called a spade, the second 
player may name a suit, or declare a nullo, on all 
hands on which it would be sound to declare as 
dealer. 

All the arguments that have been advanced in 
favor of the dealer's shut-out bid apply with at least 
equal force to the second player when the dealer 
has called a spade — especially when the rubber game 
is being played. With good royals, and pronounced 
weakness in hearts, or vice versa, a pre-emptive bid 
is often useful in shutting out an adverse bid, as the 
third player, in view of the dealer's declared weak- 
ness, is unlikely to open with a high bid. But it must 
be quite clear to the second player that it is not to 
his advantage to allow the opponents to get into 
conversation. 

When the dealer calls a spade, the second player 
is in a good position to declare a nullo, as the fact 
of the spade indicates that the dealer's hand is not 



DECLARATIONS BY SECOND PLAYER 85 



good for nullos, and it makes all the safer for the 
second player to declare them. 

suit bids when the dealer has called "two 

spades" 

When the dealer has called "two spades" there is 
a likelihood of the third player calling a no-trump 
or a royal. This is a position in which the second 
player is apt to be panic stricken and to indicate a 
suit in anticipation of a no-trump by the third player, 
but this is just the time when he should remain silent 
and allow the third player to rescue the dealer 
which he is obliged to do. 

The correct play of the second player is to pass 
any conventional spade bid and so compel the third 
player to rescue the dealer. The second player is 
sure to have another opportunity to bid. 

VOLUNTARY BIDS AXD FORCED BIDS 

Declarations by the second player may be sepa- 
rated into two main classes: voluntary and forced 
declarations. A voluntary or free declaration, is 
one that is entirely at the option of the second 
player: he is under no obligation to bid; he may 
pass, or call as high or as low as he pleases. A 
"forced" declaration is one in which the bidder has 
been deprived of his option. He is "forced" to 
make a bid above the dealer, or to remain silent. 

So far, the second player's declarations have only 
been considered when the dealer has called "one 
spade" or "two spades." 

When the dealer has made an attacking declara- 
tion, the second player has to decide whether he will 
pass, or overcall the dealer. This is the time when 



86 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



he has often to make a forced declaration, as it may 
be his only opportunity to speak. 

TWO GOLDEN RULES 

There are two golden rules for the second player, 
when the dealer has made an attacking declaration. 
Firstly, he should remember that he cannot success- 
fully force the pace with a poor hand, and secondly 
he should say nothing if the dealer's bid suits his 
hand. These two rules apply to all the players, but 
they are applicable, in the first place, to the second 
player. It is safe to say that most of the points lost 
at Royal Auction are the result of disregarding 
these two rules, 

When the second player has a hand that appears 
to justify a bid, it is so difficult for him to refrain 
from speaking. 

DOUBTFUL OVERBIDS 

The second player should never make a doubt- 
ful overbid if the game is safe, he should only make 
a declaration when he sees a reasonable hope of win- 
ning the game. He should catechise himself thus : 

u Is the game safe? If so, I should not bid." 

"Can I win the game? If so, I should bid." 

When the dealer's bid does not suit the second 
player, he has to stretch a point in overbidding. 
This is when he has to make a forced bid, and it re- 
quires great judgment not to overstretch the bid. 

He has vet to hear from his partner, who might 
be able to raise the bid and perhaps go game, where- 
as if he remains silent an .opportunity might be 
missed of scoring on the deal. 

It is so difficult to know when the second player 



DECLARATIONS BY SECOND PLAYER 87 



is merely forcing the pace, and when he is making 
a call from real strength, and wishes his partner 
to support the bid. When the second player some- 
times plays one game, and sometimes the other, it 
handicaps the fourth player's bid. 

1 'two no-trumps" over the dealer's no-trump 

When the dealer has declared "one no-trump, " 
the second player will be greatly embarrassed if he 
also holds a hand good enough for no-trump. It is 
inadvisable for him to overcall with "two no- 
trumps" unless he has a standard no-trumper fully 
protected in three suits, counting at least 21, and he 
should only make this bid when a suit bid is not open 
to him. Although he plays after the dealer he may 
not have many opportunities of playing from the ex- 
posed hand through the dealer. He may have to 
lead away from his strong hand which would place 
him at a great disadvantage. It is usually best for 
the second player not to bid, as he stands to gain 
more than he stands to lose by lying low. 

There is naturally a strong temptation to lead the 
dealer on to "two no-trumps" by making a suit bid 
of two, but it should be a playable bid because the 
dealer or his partner will increase the contract only 
if there is a reasonable expectation of game, other- 
wise they may double the two bid. 

SUIT BIDS OVER DEALER'S NO-TRUMP 

In overcalling the dealer's no-trump with a suit 
declaration the second player must remember that 
he is undertaking to make eight tricks against the 
dealer's declared strength. 

The tendency of the second player to make a 



88 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



light overcall is a mistake. Some players go so far 
as to call "two" as second player in a suit in which 
they would not call "one" as dealer. They will 
risk a call of "two" when it requires four tricks in 
the partner's hand to pull them through. The excuse 
is that this is the only opportunity to bid as the 
fourth player is unlikely to take up the bidding when 
the second player passes. This is true and when 
there is something useful to communicate to the 
fourth player the second player has to make a 
forced call. 

But the forced call should not be made simply to 
push the dealer. A light overcall rarely succeeds in 
forcing the dealer, and if he has reason to suspect 
the second player's weakness he has the simple ex- 
pedient of doubling, open to him. 

A good general rule is for the second player not 
to overcall the dealer's "one no-trump" with a suit 
bid of "two" unless his hand contains five tricks. 
But it is difficult to lay down a general rule because 
the personal element has to be considered. If the 
dealer is a forward bidder, and the fourth player is 
known to be over cautious it quite alters the posi- 
tion and the second player might be missing a golden 
opportunity to bid. 

OVERCALLING DEALER'S "ONE NO-TRUMP " WITH 

"TWO royals" OR "two hearts" 

A Ace, Queen, Knave, 9, 5 

* Queen, 3, 2 

* King, Knave, 10, 4 

* 6 



DECLARATIONS BY SECOND PLAYER 89 



(Overcalling Dealer's "One No-Trump" With "Two Royals" or 
"Two Hearts"* — Continued) 

A King, Queen, Knave, 8, 6 

¥ Ace, 9, 3 

* Knave, 8, 2 

* 10, 4 

A Ace, Knave, 10, 8, 7, 5 

¥ King, 3 

* Queen, 7, 5 

* 7> 4 
A 4 

¥ Ace, Queen, Knave, 10, 5 

* 9. 5. 3 

* King, 9, 8, 2 

* King, 4, 3 

¥ King, Queen, Knave, 9, 3 

* 9> 4 

* Queen, Knave, 8 
A 9, 6 

¥ Ace, Queen, 10, 4, 3, 2 

* Ace, 5 

* 10, 9, 5 

LIGHT OVERBIDS IN A SUIT 

It is always better for the second player to err 
on the side of caution in overcalling the dealer's no- 
trump, especially when he is tempted to overcall the 
dealer in a minor suit. The dealer's no-trump may 
be due to strength in a minor suit which he has not 
declared as eleven tricks are required for game, and 
the second player might come up against the dealer's 
strength in making a light overbid. 

It should be remembered that a doubtful overbid 
in a minor suit accomplishes little and risks a great 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



deal. The second player cannot hope to make the 
game and it is not very helpful to be left in with a 
contract requiring eleven tricks for game. He has 
not even the excuse of wishing to direct his part- 
ner's lead. 

It tells the dealer the suit that is likely to be 
opened and it may suggest a shift to a major suit 
contract. 

There would be less losses at Royal Auction if 
it were made a rule that an overbid in a minor suit 
should only be made when the second player does 
not fear a double and when he holds the game safe 
in the major suits. The fourth player would then 
know exactly how far to raise the bid, and it renders 
concerted action possible. 

The informatory bid is the pitfall of the poor 
player. He imagines it his duty to communicate his 
holding to the partner and he makes a foolish bid 
w 7 hen he ought to be silent. 

It is hardly necessary to caution the second player 
against overcalling with a solid suit of diamonds or 
clubs to five or more, as that is just the time to give 
the dealer a Scarborough warning. The stratagem 
known as the "shift" is often attempted with hands 
of this type, but like all traps in the bidding it is 
rarely successful. 

OVERCALLING DEALERS "ONE NO-TRUMP " WITH 

"TWO diamonds" OR "two clubs" 

* King, 3 

V Knave, 10, 9, 4 

* Ace, Queen, 7, 6, 5, 4 

* 6 



DECLARATIONS BY SECOND PLAYER 91 



(Overcalling Dealer's "One No-Trump" With "Two Diamonds" 
or "Two Clubs" — Continued) 

A Ace, 5 

V 10, 9, 8, 4 

♦ King, Knave, 10, 8, 5, 3 

* Knave 

A King, Queen 

V Queen, 5, 4 

♦ Ace, Knave, 10, 8, 7, 5 

* 4. 3 

A 9, 8, 6, 2 

V Ace, 4 

♦ King, 3 

* Ace, Queen, 10, 9, 5 

A Queen, 5, 4 

V King, 9 

♦ 6, 2 

* King, Queen, 10, 9, 7, 6 

A Knave, 9, 5 

V Queen, 10, 3 

♦ 9 

* Ace, Queen, Knave, 10, 6, 2 

OVERCALLIXG DEALER^ "ONE NO-TRUMP" WITH 

"TWO nullos" 
When the second player has a good nullo hand 
he should not miss the opportunity of overcalling 
the dealer's u one no-trump" with "two nullos." 
Nullos are great at forcing an adverse no-trump, 
and if the partner can support the bid the opponents 
can be forced to declare beyond the limits of safety 
or to relinquish the declaration. As I have pointed 
out before, rather than make the nullo bidder a 
present of several tricks, which they find they cannot 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



help taking, the opponents will risk a high contract 
— which they may not be able to fulfil. It is the 
opportunity of the little cards and the opportunity 
should not be missed. If the opponents have high 
sequences, and especially when one hand has four 
aces the bidding is sure to be brisk. 

OVERCALLING THE DEALER'S "ONE NO-TRUMP" 
WITH "TWO NULLOS" 

A Queen, Knave, 4, 3, 2 

V 7, 2 

* Ace, 5, 4, 2 

* 9» 3 

* 6 

V Ace, 9, 8, 4, 3 

* Ace, 5, 3 

* Knave, 7, 4, 2 

A Ace, 6, 5, 4, 2 

V King, 3 

* 9- 4> 3 

* Knave, 5, 2 

* Ace, 3 

V King, 4, 2 

* Queen, Knave, 6, 4, 2 

* 6, 5, 2 

* 7» 4, 3 

V 9 

* Ace, 10, 9, 5, 2 

* King, 5, 4, 3 

* 7 ? 3 

V Queen, 4 

4 10, 9, 5, 4, 2 

* Ace, Knave, 4, 2 



DECLARATIONS BY SECOND PLAYER 



93 



O VERC ALLING THE DEALER'S SUIT BIDS 

The second player should not hesitate to call a 
royal over a heart on any hand on which he would 
declare royals as dealer. Even when he has to make 
a bid of two over a bid of one he will stretch a 
point rather than forego bidding. It is very likely 
that if he remains silent he will not have another 
opportunity to speak, and his silence will certainly 
handicap the fourth player in bidding. The bidding 
so far as suit bids are concerned does not offer any 
great difficulty. The second player should welcome 
any opportunity to bid when he has the material for 
bidding. 

When it is a question of calling a no-trump after 
a suit declaration by the dealer it is necessary in the 
first place that the declared suit should be stopped 
and in the second place that the hand should count 
up to 21 or more with at least two other suits pro- 
tected. Conservatism in declaring a no-trump over 
a suit declaration is necessary. 

Some players will not hesitate to declare a no- 
trump over the dealer's suit bid, with all-round 
strength counting up to 21, without protection in 
the declared suit. They trust the partner to hold 
protection in the lacking suit, and as it is a one-trick 
contract there is every likelihood of fulfilling it. 
But it handicaps the fourth player in deciding to 
raise the bid, if it is overcalled. The safer rule not 
to declare no-trump unless a stopper is held in the 
declared suit makes for better bidding as it allows 
concerted action between the partners. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



OVERCALLING DEALER'S SUIT DECLARATION WITH 
"ONE no-trump" HOLDING A GUARD IN 
THE DECLARED SUIT 





Ace, 3, 2 




7 




V 


10, 9, 2 


= 






♦ 


Ace, Queen, 6, 4 


: 


10 




* 


King, 10, 7 


= 


6 


23 


* 


King, 5, 2 




5 




¥ 


Knave, 5, 4 


= 






♦ 


Queen, Knave, 3 




5 




* 


Ace, King, 9, 5 


: 


12 


22 




Queen, Knave, 8 





5 




¥ 


Ace, 6, 5 




7 




♦ 


King, Knave, 9 


= 


7 




* 


Queen, 10, 9, 7 


: 


4 


23 




Queen, 5, 4 





3 




¥ 


King, Knave, 3 


= 


7 




♦ 


Queen, 10, 8 


=== 


4 






Ace, 6, 5, 4 


— : 


7 


21 




Kinp\ 6, 4- 




5 




¥ 


Ace, Queen, 3 




10 




♦ 


Queen, 9, 7 




3 




* 


Queen, 10, 7, 3 




4 


22 


* 


Knave, 10, 7, 2 




3 




¥ 


King, 9, 7 




5 




♦ 


King, 7, 6 




5 




* 


Ace, 10, 5 




8 


21 



PART X 



DECLARATIONS BY THE THIRD 
PLAYER 

The third player's declaration is dependent, in 
the first instance, on the dealer's declaration. If 
the dealer has made a game-winning declaration it 
is the third player's duty to support the bid when 
he can. 

If the dealer has called a spade, and the second 
player has made a bid, the third player's declara- 
tion will depend on the strength of his hand. He 
will have no great difficulty in arriving at a decision. 
If the second player has passed the spade, the third 
player has to bid conservatively, unless he knows 
the dealer plays a waiting game. 

WHEN THE DEALER HAS CALLED A SPAD£ 

When the dealer has called a spade, and the 
second player has passed, the third player has to be 
careful about declaring no-trump, as he has no indica- 
tion of support. He must credit the dealer with 
less than an average holding, and, before he can 
call no-trump, he needs a standard no-trumper, count- 
ing up to 24, with three suits protected. An average 
hand, counting up to 18, and protected in three suits, 
is good enough in opening the bidding, but it is not 
good enough when the dealer has called a spade. 
There is an increased probability that the fourth 
player is strong, and a light no-trumper, with a 

95 



96 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



strong hand playing after the third player, is apt to 
break down badly. 

This conservatism is not so necessary in the case 
of a trump declaration. Any suit bid open to the 
dealer is equally open to the third player, because 
the dealer may have considerable support in the 
suit, without sufficient strength to declare. 

When the dealer has called a spade and the second 
player has passed there is every likelihood of the 
fourth player calling a no-trump. This is a position 
in which the third player has to carefully consider 
the advisability of suggesting a lead from his part- 
ner by making a suit bid. No fair opportunity of 
making an informatory bid should be missed by the 
third player in anticipation of a no-trump bid by 
the fourth player. If the dealer is unable to raise 
the bid, it will at least direct his lead. 

There is no obligation on the third player to res- 
cue the dealer when he has declared a safety spade: 
he should only bid when he has the material for a 
bid. It is quite different when the dealer has called 
two or more spades; then the third player has to 
take the dealer out whether or not he has the ma- 
terial for a bid. 

When the dealer has called "two spades" and 
the second player has passed, the third player should 
bid royals on five small spades or even on four 
spades with outside strength. It is obligatory on 
him to take the dealer out of a "two spade" bid and 
when he cannot declare royals or no-trump, nor call 
a suit he should bid a conventional "three spades" 
to give the dealer an opportunity to rescue himself 
as cheaply as possible. 



DECLARATIONS BY THIRD PLAYER 97 



SECONDARY PRE-EMPTIVE BIDS 

When the dealer has made an attacking bid, and 
the third player sees that it offers a good prospect 
of game, it is sometimes advisable for him to raise 
the dealer's bid, even when no bid has been made 
by the second player. The idea is to prevent the 
opponents from getting into conversation, and at 
the same time to inform the dealer that the game is 
in sight, and it is more profitable to play for game, 
than to angle for penalties. 

A secondary pre-emptive bid is, therefore, an 
overbid made by the third player in a suit originally 
declared by the dealer, when the third player has 
material support in the declared suit with pro- 
nounced weakness in a major suit. He forces on 
the dealer a heavier contract, in order to shut out a 
bid by the fourth player. 

These bids at times prove very effective in shut- 
ting out a bid from the fourth player. With great 
strength in the dealer's declared suit, and with pro- 
nounced weakness in a major suit, overcalling the 
partner with a bid of two or three seems the best 
for the partnership, but the third player has to con- 
sider whether it is better to encourage, or to dis- 
courage adverse bidding. He should only make a 
pre-emptive bid when adverse bidding is to be dis- 
couraged. 

There is a similarity between all bids of this na- 
ture. Here is a typical instance: 

A 2 

V King, 10, 8, 4 

♦ King, 6 

* King, Queen, Knave, 8, 6, 2 



98 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



The dealer having declared a heart, which the sec- 
ond player has passed, the third hand should, with 
this holding, raise the bid to "three hearts," to shut 
out a bid from the fourth player. 

OVERCALLING THE PARTNER S BID 

When the dealer has made an informatorv bid in 
a minor suit, and the second player has passed, the 
third player's bid is fairly obvious. Any attacking 
bid he would have made as dealer he should make 
as third player aided by the information he has re- 
ceived from the dealer. 

But one of the most difficult problems that con- 
fronts the third player is to know when he should 
overcall the dealer's attacking bid, when the second 
player has passed. 

There are two widely different situations that 
arise, and as one or other of them occurs almost in 
every rubber, it is necessary to distinguish clearly 
between them. In order to make the distinction as 
marked as possible the overcall has been divided 
into 

1. The aggressive overcall or "take-out" with 

pronounced strength, 

2. The protective overcall or "take-out" with 

pronounced weakness. 

In the first case the third player has, or is as- 
sumed to have, a more paying declaration available, 
and with pronounced strength he deliberately over- 
calls his partner in order to make a better score; in 
the second case, he has no hope of scoring in the 
deal, and, with pronounced weakness, he overcalls 



DECLARATIONS BY THIRD PLAYER 99 



his partner in order to minimize the anticipated 
loss. 

In many cases, both the assumptions prove to be 
incorrect, and when this is so it does not invariably 
conduce to polite language. 

If it were always possible for the dealer to know 
when the "take-out" is aggressive, and when it is 
protective, overcalling would be a comparatively 
simple matter, and no great harm would result; but 
it is the indefiniteness of the "take-out" that makes 
it so trying, and renders it so productive of misun- 
derstandings. 

OVERCALLING THE DEALER'S ATTACKING BID 

It should be remembered that some players have 
an overweening fondness for playing the hands ; and, 
with a partner of this type, overcalling is apt to be 
disastrous, and to result in mutual recriminations. 

In many cases, however, the overcall is to the 
manifest advantage of the partnership, and it has 
then to play an important part in the scheme of bid- 
ding. If a few simple rules are followed there 
should be no misunderstanding. 

In the first place, the partner's attacking bid 
should not be interfered with unless there is com- 
plete justification for doing so. 

In the next place, the overcall of a no-trump or a 
major suit declaration should only be made w T ith 
pronounced strength, or with pronounced weakness. 

And the general rule is, that overcalling in a 
major suit is an aggressive overcall, made with the 
deliberate intention of increasing the chances of 
making the game in the deal, while overcalling in a 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



minor suit is a protective measure, with the ob : ect 
of incurring the least possible loss on the deal. 

This general rule should, in the opinion of many 
players, be made an invariable rule, otherwise the 
overbid in a major suit may mean one of two to- 
tally different things — it may mean that the third 
player has a game-winning hand, and it may mean 
that he has carte blanche. 

AGGRESSIVE OVERCALLS 

Overcalling the dealer's attacking bid of no- 
trump, or a major suit, need only be considered, as 
there will naturally be no hesitation in overcalling 
the dealer's bid in a minor suit in order to increase 
the chances of making the game. 

All hands on which the third player could make 
an original declaration of two in a major suit, and 
on which he would have selected the major suit in 
preference to no-trump, are good enough for an 
overcall — but the hand must on its own merits be 
good enough for six tricks. 

Increasing the contract to eight tricks has no real 
importance when a game-winning declaration has 
been made. It is accepting a small risk to save a 
big one later (that is the risk of being forced to as- 
sume a heavier contract later in the bidding), and 
it gives the partner information that may be useful 
to him in the subsequent bidding. 

For much the same reasons, the third player may 
overcall the dealer's bid of a heart with a royal, or 
the bid of a royal with two hearts. But there must 
be no bidding at cross purposes. It must be quite 
clear to the third hand that his suit offers a better 
chance of game, that is to say that his hand is worth 



DECLARATIONS BY THIRD PLAYER 101 



six* tricks in his own suit, and that he is blank, or 
nearly so, in the dealer's suit. 

The idea in overcalling a major suit is, that, 
while the third player has no help in the dealer's 
suit, the dealer may have help in the third player's 
suit. Otherwise there is no justification for inter- 
fering with the partner's bid. 

TWO ROYALS OR HEARTS OVER DEALER'S NO-TRUMP 





King, Queen, Knave, 10, 5 


y 


8 


♦ 


King, 9, 3 




Ace, Knave, 6, 3 


* 


9- 7 


V 


Ace, Queen, 10, 7, 2 


♦ 


King, Queen, 10, 4, 3 


* 


4 


* 


Queen, Knave, 10, 9, 8, 2 


V 


King, Queen, 3 


♦ 


7* 5 


* 


King, 6 



NO-TRUMP OVER DEALER'S ONE ROYAL OR HEART 
OVER "ONE- ROYAL" 

* 3 

* Ace, 5, 3 

* Ace, Knave, 10, 9 

* King, Queen, 10, 5, 4 

OVER "ONE HEART" 
A King, Queen, 2 

¥ 7. 

* King, Queen, Knave, 7, 3 

* Ace, Queen, 4, 3 



102 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(No-Trump Over Dealer's One Royal or Heart Over u One Royal" — 

Continued) 

OVER U ONE ROYAL" 

* 3> 2 

V Ace, 9, 3 

* Ace, King, io, 2 

* Ace, Queen, 6, 5 

When the third player overcalls the dealer's dec- 
laration in a major suit with "one no-trump n he 
either shows four aces or great strength in all the 
suits except the one called by the dealer. 

PROTECTIVE OVERCALLS 

A "warning bid" is an announcement to the dealer 
that the assistance he relied upon in undertaking his 
contract will not be forthcoming. 

When the warning bid does not increase the trick- 
taking value of the two hands, it is a foolish over- 
call, and doubly foolish when it invites a double 
from the adversaries. 

The "warning bid," if used sparingly, is certainly 
useful in taking the dealer out of a light no-trump. 
With six small trumps, and nothing else of value in 
the hand, the rescue is advisable. And the rescue 
is also advisable w T hen the third player has a perfect 
nullo hand. 

But unless the rescue is imperative, it is always 
best not to interfere with the dealer's bid. The 
rescue, however well intentioned it may be, makes 
two big assumptions. It assumes that the no-trump 
has been very light, and it assumes that the fourth 
player will pass the bid, but if the no-trump has 
been very light there is little danger of its being 
left in. 

The rescue is chiefly advisable with a partner 



DECLARATIONS BY THIRD PLAYER 103 



known to declare on flimsy material and with op- 
ponents known to punish light bids, not by doubling, 
but by remaining silent, and allowing the declarer 
to meet his doom. 

It does not appear to be a sound proposition to 
make a protective overcall with such a suit as five 
cards to the queen or knave. But this is generally 
recommended. The second player having passed, it 
is likely that the good cards are with the dealer and 
the fourth player. If the fourth player has a very 
good hand, it is unlikely that he will leave the dealer 
with a contract to make only the odd trick. 

In these days of light no-trumpers, a contract to 
make eight tricks, with a queen or knave suit to five, 
against a strong fourth hand, is a foolish invitation 
to the opponents to double. This is the real risk of 
overcalling, and there is the further risk of the 
dealer misinterpreting the overcall, and going to 
"two no-trumps. " 

THE DEALER'S ANSWER TO AN OVERCALL 

Every possible precaution should be taken against 
the dealer misinterpreting the overcall. Is it a 
warning, or is it an indication of strength? The 
dealer should regard the overcall in a major suit as 
an indication of strength, and the overcall in a minor 
suit as an indication of weakness. In any case, he 
should be careful about going back to his original 
bid. 

He may decide to do so with a strong hand if 
the overcall is in a major suit, but if it is in a minor 
suit he would do well to leave it alone, unless he 
has a phenomenal hand on which the game is a fair 
certainty. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



SUPPORTING THE DEALER'S DECLARATION 

The general rule is, that the third player should 
support the dealer's declarations. As the extent of 
the support will depend on the strength of the hand, 
successful combination in the bidding is mainly de- 
pendent on a proper estimation of the assisting value 
of a hand. This assisting value is affected by a 
variety of causes, which are entirely different when 
playing (i) no-trumps, (2) a suit declaration and 
(3) nullos. 

When the dealer has made a bid of one in no- 
trump, or in a major suit, he should only be cred- 
ited with the minimum strength necessary for an 
original declaration — that is, the minimum of 18 
for a no-trump declaration, and the minimum of 
four tricks for a suit declaration. It is important to 
bear this in mind in raising the bid in order that the 
declarer should not be carried beyond his depth. 

RAISING THE PARTNER'S NO-TRUMP DECLARATION 

When the dealer's no-trump has been overcalled, 
it is necessary for the third player to have a guard 
in the declared suit to raise the dealer's bid. But 
while protection in the suit declared by the second 
player is essential, something more is necessary in 
these days of light no-trumpers. In addition to the 
stopper, a minimum of three probable tricks, or 18 
points, is required to raise the bid once. Although 
a sound no-trump is the best opening declaration it 
is, nullos excepted, the most dangerous to raise. 
Raising on insufficient material might easily lead to 
the loss of three or four hundred points. 

There is no obligation on the third player to raise 



DECLARATIONS BY THIRD PLAYER 105 



the partner's bid when he stops the adverse suit. 
This is just the time a profitable double may be in 
sight, and if he has fair strength in the suit declared 
by the second player, his best course is to double 
instead of raising the bid, and leave the dealer to 
decide whether it is better to play for game, or for 
a penalty score. 

If lacking in a guard in the declared suit, the 
third player should, when he can, indicate his suit 
to the dealer, as this is the best way to assist the 
dealer to raise his own bid. 

RAISING THE DEALER S SUIT BID 

In making a suit declaration, the dealer relies on 
at least one sure trick from his partner, and, there- 
fore, the third player should not raise the bid unless 
he has something more than this minimum support 
to offer the dealer. The third player should only 
take into account the extra trick or tricks the dealer 
has not, ex hypothesi, reckoned upon in making the 
declaration — otherwise, the same tricks would be 
calculated twice over, and the increase in contract 
would be unsound. 

The kind of assistance the declarer looks for from 
dummy is trump strength, side aces and kings, and 
blank suits or singletons so as to ruff adverse aces 
and kings. It would be unsound to raise the bid on 
length in trumps only, or on a single side suit such 
as ace, king, queen, with pronounced weakness in 
trumps. 

Speaking generally the third player should not 
raise his partner's suit bid, unless he holds at least 
two little trumps, besides two sure tricks. He may 
raise the bid once for each additional trick or 



io6 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



"raiser" in his hand. The idea of not raising the 
bid without a minimum of two trumps is to insure a 
majority of trumps in favor of the declarer. 



THE DEALER HAVING DECLARED ROYALS 

Raise Once 

Number of Tricks 
A 10, 8, 6 = O 

¥ Ace, 4, 2 =i 

♦ Knave, 9, 4, 3 =0 

* King, Queen, 3 =1 

— 2 

Raise Twice 

A King, 8, 6 =1 

¥ King, Queen, 3 = 1 

♦ Ace, 7, 4 =1 

* Queen, 5, 4, 3 =0 

— 3 

Raise Three Times 



A 10, 8, 5, 2 
¥ 

♦ Ace, King, 7, 6 

* Queen, 7, 6, 5, 4 



o 
2 
2 
o 

— 4 



Raise Four Times 

A King, 8, 6, 5 = 1 

¥ Ace = 2 

♦ Ace, King, 7, 6, 4 = 2 

* Knave, 6, 4 = o 



DECLARATIONS BY THIRD PLAYER 107 



HOW TO RECKON "TRICKS" AND "RAISERS" 

A useful method of estimating the assisting value 
of a hand is to calculate "raisers" separately from 
"tricks." For, while every trick is a raiser every 
raiser is not necessarily a trick. 

Strictly speaking "tricks" are the aces and kings 
of the trump suit and the side suits — but the kings 
must be fully protected. Tricks are certainties, 
raisers are often uncertainties. 

Single raisers. ( 1 ) The queen and one or two 
others in the trump suit is a raiser, (2) a singleton 
with two or three little trumps is a raiser, (3) a 
king queen in a side suit is a raiser, but a guarded 
king without the queen is a doubtful raiser unless it 
is to the left of a player who has bid in the suit, 
(4) a queen of a side suit even when fully guarded 
is a very doubtful raiser, and should be counted only 
when the situation is desperate. 

Double raisers. (1) A blank suit with two or 
three little trumps may be counted as two raisers, 

(2) a singleton ace of a side suit with two or three 
little trumps may be counted as two raisers, and 

(3) if a point has to be stretched, four trumps 
headed by the ace or king may be counted as a dou- 
ble raiser. It is generally right to stretch a point 
when a player holds the ace of a suit declared by his 
partner; it is always -well to announce it as the de- 
clarer will have no difficulty in extracting trumps. 



io8 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ESTIMATING THE ASSISTING VALUE OF A HAND, THE 
PARTNER HAVING DECLARED ROYALS 

(This hand can support the declaration to the ex- 
tent of two tricks: the third player may raise the bid 
once.) 

* 6, 5, 4, 3 =0 

V 8 =i 

* 7. 6, 5, 4 = o 

* Ace, 6, 5, 4 =i 

(The additional king of clubs makes an extra 
trick: the third player may raise the bid twice.) 

* 6, 5, 4, 3 = o 

V 8 =i 

* 7. 6, 5, 4 = o 

* Ace, King, 5, 4 = 2 

(The ace of hearts singleton may be counted as 
two tricks: the third player may raise the bid three 
times.) 

* 6, 5, 4, 3 = o 

V Ace = 2 

* 7» 6 » 5. 4 =0 

* Ace, King, 5, 4 = 2 

(The additional ace of trumps makes the hand 
good enough for five tricks: the third player may 
raise the bid four times.) 

A Ace, 5, 4, 3 =1 
¥ Ace == 2 

* 7> 6 » 5> 4 =0 

* Ace, King, 5, 4 =2 



DECLARATIONS BY THIRD PLAYER 109 



(The hand is now good enough for six tricks: the 
third player may raise the bid five times.) 

A Ace, 5, 4, 3 =1 

V =2 

♦ Ace, 6, 5, 4 =1 

* Ace, King, 5, 4 =2 

The gradual increase in the assisting value of the 
hand from two to six tricks should be noted. 



PART XI 

CONTINUATION OF THE BIDDING 

Conversation at the card table is as a rule a great 
deal overdone. It is the bidder who seldom bids 
and the doubler who seldom doubles that makes the 
most reliable and desirable partner. As Sydney 
Smith would say "those flashes of silence" make his 
conversation the more perfectly delightful. 

The golden rule for declaring is that with a hand 
holding out game possibilities a player should as- 
sume the attack, otherwise he should be on the de- 
fensive. 

And the golden rule for the continuation of the 
bidding is that a player should take any reasonable 
chance to make the game or to keep the other side 
from making the game, but he should refrain from 
taking any chances if the game cannot be made 
either by his side or by the adversaries. 

These are the central ideas around which the en- 
tire scheme of bidding revolves. 

THE PERSONAL ELEMENT 

The personal element plays an important part in 
the fourth player's declaration, and in the continua- 
tion of the bidding. An intimate knowledge of the 
players must therefore largely supplement the con- 
ventions of declaring. There is the overcautious 
man who will never take chances, and the man who 



in 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



always bids his hand to the full limit; while some 
men are so fond of defeat that they will go half way 
to meet it. A great deal must be left to personal 
judgment of the situation and the players. While 
the over-timid partner misses many good bargains 
at the auction, the over-zealous partner is apt to be 
heavily penalized. One must be timorous with the 
rash and adventurous with the timid. 

DECLARATIONS BY THE FOURTH PLAYER 

Most of what has been said regarding the third 
player's declarations apply to the fourth player. He 
must treat the second player's declaration much in 
the same way as the third player treats the dealer's 
declaration with this important difference, that he 
has to carefully distinguish between the second play- 
er's free and forced declaration, both in bidding and 
in supporting his partner's bid. 

The fourth player needs a minimum of three tricks 
to raise the second player's forced call, e. g., the 
dealer calls "one no-trump," second player "two 
royals," third player "two no-trumps," the fourth 
player should have at least three tricks to raise his 
partner's bid. This illustrates the rule that a player 
should never undertake a losing contract when he 
has no chance of making the game. If the third 
player's u two no-trumps" was a sound contract the 
chances of making game in the suit are remote and 
it is better for the adversaries, to play to defeat the 
contract. 

There are a few situations that are peculiar to 
the fourth player in the first round of the bidding. 
He has often to take a long chance in order to direct 
his partner's lead when the dealer has called a no- 



CONTINUATION OF THE BIDDING 113 



trump and the second player has passed. The fourth 
player has then to declare "two" in a suit on a hand 
on which eight tricks would be exceedingly difficult 
to obtain, not with the object of pushing the dealer 
but in order to direct his partner's lead. If the lead 
from the partner offers a reasonable chance of sav- 
ing the game, the overcall is warranted, otherwise 
it is a losing game, because the dealer instead of in- 
creasing his contract might play to defeat the bid. 

A Ace, 2 
V 7>> 5 

♦ King, Queen, 10, 5, 4 

* 8, 6, 4 

"Two diamonds" should be declared as the lead 
will enable the suit to be established before parting 
with an important re-entry, the ace of spades. 

In the hand that follows two clubs should be de- 
clared as the lead of a club would help to establish 
the clubs with the aid of the two re-entries in dia- 
monds : 

* 8, 5 
¥ 10, 6 

* Ace, King, 2 

* Queen, Knave, 10, 6, 4, 3 

Here are two borderline hands on w T hich the over- 
call might be made 

I A 6, 5 

V Ace, 5, 4 

♦ 8, 7, 6 

* Ace, Knave, 10, 9, 4 



H4 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Borderline Hands — Continued) 

II A Queen, Knave, 2 
V 7, 6, 5 

♦ King, Queen, Knave, 9, 5 

* 6, 3 

The overcall is not made with the object of scor- 
ing, but solely in order to direct the partner's lead. 

IMPORTANCE OF THE MAJOR SUIT CONTRACTS 
About 40 per cent of the dealer's opening declara- 
tions are no-trumps, 22 per cent are royals, and 
nearly 20 per cent are hearts; leaving only 18 per 
cent for the informatory bids, for nullos, and for a 
spade. It is indeed largely a game of no-trumps, 
royals and hearts, as anyone of these game-winning 
declarations swamp all the other declarations put 
together. Under the Royal count there is no slow 
process of arriving at the final bid, no gradual build- 
ing up the bids so as to arrive at the most paying 
declaration. These were methods possible under 
the old count, when all the bidding centered round 
the no-trumper, and a player would bid a diamond 
to show top honors, with only three cards in the 
suit, and little or nothing else in the hand. 

It by no means follows that 40 per cent of the 
hands are played at no-trump, because the opening 
bid of a no-trump is frequently revised in favor of 
one of the suit calls, especially royals and hearts. 
While more hands are called than played at no- 
trumps, the reverse is true of royals and hearts, as 
fifty per cent of the hands are played at these two 
calls. Royal Auction is therefore fifty per cent a 
game of the major suit contracts. This fact has an 
important bearing on all questions of declaration. 



CONTINUATION OF THE BIDDING 115 



A basic principle of the game is to support a bid 
made by the partner in a major suit, and not to in- 
terfere with it unless there are special reasons for 
doing so. 

OVERCALLIXG THE PARTNER'S SUIT BID 

When a player is void in his partner's suit it con- 
stitutes a special reason for interfering with his bid, 
because it is likely one of the opponents has length 
in the suit. With a good suit of his own overcall- 
ing would be right not only as a warning to the 
partner, but because the other suit may not be sim- 
ilarly distributed, and the partner might hold two 
or three little trumps which would turn the balance 
of trump strength in favor of the revised declara- 
tion. 

It was pointed out not long ago in the card col- 
umns of "The Field" that there is no part of the 
declaration where there are greater varieties of 
practice than in the case of overcalling one's part- 
ner, and it is at the same time the most fruitful 
source from which spring angry contentions. 

Taking the case of the partners bidding one suit 
against another, and assuming that the adversaries 
are taking no part in the proceedings the writer 
points out that each time a player returns to his 
own suit, he indicates a very much greater strength. 
"The question may be looked on as an illustration 
of the principle that one should not count anything 
in one's hand twice over. If one has made a dec- 
laration which gives a certain information, that in- 
formation is taken into account by all the other 
players who have made declarations. A declara- 
tion subsequently made, say by one's partner, em- 



n6 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



bodies that information together with what one's 
partner sees in his own hand. If that declaration 
is to be superseded, it must be on account of some 
new facts not already disclosed. A player should 
always give his partner credit for making the best 
decision according to the knowledge which is open 
to him and his only justification for upsetting that 
decision is that there is something in his own hand 
which his partner would not suspect. 

HOW TO SECURE A MAJORITY OF TRUMPS 

The proposition the writer puts forward with 
which every player will agree, is that the ^rick- 
making efficiency of the two hands combined is the 
greater when that suit is declared, in which the two 
players between them hold the greater number of 
trumps. For not only have the players a better 
chance of having many long trumps after the ad- 
verse trumps are out, but also length in trumps ar- 
gues shortness in plain suits, and the players have 
the better chance of ruffing before trumps have been 
drawn. Likewise, of course, the adversaries are 
short in trumps and have a poorer chance of mak- 
ing their trumps by ruffing and of having enough 
trumps to thwart the declarer's plans." 

In order to secure the largest number of trumps 
in the combined hands a player should not overcall 
his partner's declaration, in a suit of equal game- 
winning value, unless he holds four trumps more in 
his own suit than in his partner's suit. 

In order to overcall a heart with a royal (and 
vice versa) or a club with a diamond (and vice 
versa), the hand should contain four more spades 
than hearts or four more diamonds than clubs, e. g., 



CONTINUATION OF THE BIDDING 117 



to overcall a heart with a royal the overbidder 
should have five spades and one heart, or six spades 
and two hearts, that is four more spades than 
hearts. 

In each case there must be no doubt about the 
declarer's ability to fulfil the contract especially if 
the bid increases the commitment. 

GIVING PARTNER THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT 

The declaration should ordinarily cease on the 
second round, if it does not it should indicate greater 
strength than was shown in the first round. The 
continuation of the declaration to the third round is 
of a totally different character to the first two 
rounds, and would be right only if a freak hand is 
held, and there is no doubt whatever about the wis- 
dom of the further overcall. If there is the least 
doubt the benefit of the doubt must be given to the 
partner. 

With partners bidding in harmony and with the 
common object of arriving at the declaration that 
would be the most productive, that is to say the 
declaration in which (other things being equal) the 
partners have the most and the opponents the few- 
est trumps, there should be no misunderstanding in 
arriving at the most paying bid of which the two 
hands are capable. 

ESTIMATING THE DECLARING VALUE OF A HAND 

It is important that a player should correctly es- 
timate the declaring value of his hand, to enable 
him to combine his hand with his partner's and to 
go, if necessary, to the limit of safe bidding without 
overstepping the safety line. 



n8 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



In a suit declaration, he should count his tricks 
in the trump suit according to the length as well as 
the strength of the suit: 

Ace, King, Queen, 4, 3, 2 = 6 tricks 



In the first case three rounds of trumps will prob- 
ably exhaust the suit and the hand may be counted 
as good for 6 tricks. In the second case the queen, 
and in the third case both the queen and the knave 
should be counted as lost tricks, as they may be held 
adversely. This method of estimating tricks in the 
trump suit has already been applied to the table of 
royal and heart hands that will be found on page 33. 

The same method should be employed in estimat- 
ing tricks in the side suits. Length in a suit headed 
by top cards is very valuable when it is protected 
by length in the trump suit. 



Ace, King, 5, 4, 3, 2 
Ace, King, 5, 4, 3 



= 5 tricks 
= 3 tricks and a 
probable fourth. 



CONTINUATION OF THE BIDDING 119 



DECLARING* VALUE OF THE TRUMP SUIT 

Number of Tricks 
Certain Probable 



Ace, King, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 6 1 

Ace, King, 7, 6, 5, 4 5 

Ace, King, 7, 6, 5 4 

Ace, King, Queen, 6, 5, 4 6 

Ace, King, Queen, 6, 5 5 

Ace, King, Queen, 6 31 

Ace, Queen, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 6 

Ace, Queen, 7, 6, 5, 4 4 1 

Ace, Queen, 7, 6, 5 3 1 

Ace, Queen, Knave, 6, 5, 4 5 

Ace, Queen, Knave, 6, 5 4 

Ace, Knave, 10, 6, 5 3 

King, Queen, Knave, 10, 6, 5 5 

King, Queen, Knave, 10, 6 4 

King, Queen, Knave, 6, 5, 4 5 

King, Queen, Knave, 6, 5 4 

King, Queen, 10, 6, 5 3 1 

King, Queen, 7, 6, 5, 4 4 1 

King, Queen, 7, 6, 5 3 1 

King, Knave, 10, 6, 5 3 1 



TRICK VALUE OF PLAIN SUITS 

This table is supplementary to that given on page 
33. The point to which it is desired to draw atten- 
tion is the decrease in value of the suit as its nu- 
merical strength decreases. The same principle 
should be followed in appraising the trick value of 
a long plain suit, provided the hand does not con- 
tain fewer than five trumps. 

This method of calculation assumes that the de- 
claring side have a majority of trumps to aid in the 
establishment of a plain suit, e. g., with Ace, King, 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



Queen, 6, 5, 4, 3 in the trump suit, and six cards to 
the 10 in a plain suit, the hand may be counted as 
good enough for 10 tricks because after the trumps 
are drawn three rounds would establish the plain 
suit. 

APPRAISING THE ASSISTING VALUE OF A HAND 

An entirely different method has to be employed 
in estimating the assisting value of a hand. In cal- 
culating the declaring value of a hand both length 
and strength of the side-suits are important factors 
because control of the trump suit lends valuable sup- 
port to a long side-suit. Ace, King, Queen, 3, 2 of 
a side suit may be counted as five tricks; but the 
same suit can only be counted as two tricks in cal- 
culating the assisting value of a hand. The reason 
is obvious : in the one case there is length in trumps 
that will not only protect the side suit, but will serve 
as re-entries to bring it in; in the other case winning 
cards in the other side suits are required to serve as 
re-entries in bringing in the long suit. 

Similarly, singletons and blank suits that may be 
counted as tricks in appraising the assisting value 
of a hand, cannot be reckoned as tricks in apprais- 
ing the declaring value of a hand, for the simple 
reason that the full value of the trump suit has al- 
ready been taken into account, and as the extra trick 
can only come from the trump suit, it would be a 
case of calculating the same trick twice over. 

In order that there should be no misunderstand- 
ing on these two important points, the declaring as 
well as the assisting values of the same hands are 
shown in the statement that follows. The "declar- 
ing value" shows the number of tricks the hand is 
good for with royals as trumps, and the assisting 



CONTINUATION OF THE BIDDING 121 



value shows the number of tricks the hand is good 
for assuming the partner has declared hearts. The 
point it is desired to bring out very clearly is the dif- 
ference in the values of the plain suit when the hand 
contains length in trumps and when the hand is 
short in trumps. 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DECLARING AND ASSISTING 

VALUES 



Declaring Assisting 

value for value for 

"Royals" ' ' Hearts" 

(Tricks) (Tricks) 

A Ace, Queen, 10, 8, 6 4 1 
» 7, 6, 5 

* Ace, Queen, Knave, 731 

* 7 1 

7 3 

A King, Queen, 10, 8, 6, 5 5 1 

* 7, 6, s 

* Ace 1 2 

* 10, 9, 7 _ _ 

6 3 

A Ace, King, Queen, 5, 4 5 2 
v 7>. 6, s 

* King, Queen, Knave, 9, 6 4 1 

* — 

9 5 

* King, Queen, 6, 5, 4 3 1 
¥ 7v 6, 5 

* King, Queen, Knave, 10 3 1 

* 9 1 



122 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



This statement shows the declaring and the as- 
sisting values of the same hands. That is their de- 
claring values with "royals" as trumps and their 
assisting values if the partner declares "hearts." 
The object in showing the two values in juxtaposi- 
tion is to draw attention to the difference in the 
methods of appraising long side suits, singletons 
and blank suits. 

RAISING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

Most hands come to grief owing to unwarranted 
raising. Raising the partner's suit bid depends on 
whether 

1. The partner has raised his own bid, 

2. The partner has not had the opportunity to 

raise his bid, 

3. The partner having had the opportunity has 

refused to raise his own bid. 

There is a difference between going from "one" 
to "two" and from "two" to * 'three." When the 
declarer raises his own bid he is marked with six 
tricks at least. He has probably control of the 
trump suit and tricks in one or more side suits. If 
the partner's hand has one trick and one raiser it is 
good enough to raise from "two" to "three." 

It is the first increase of contract that has to be 
carefully considered. When a bidder has not had 
an opportunity to raise his own bid he should only be 
credited with the minimum strength necessary to 
make an original declaration and the partner would 
not be justified in raising the bid unless his hand is 
good enough for two sure tricks if the suit is made 
trumps. 



CONTINUATION OF THE BIDDING 123 



When the bidder has been given the opportunity 
to raise his own bid, but has refused to raise it, it 
is an indication that his first bid showed the full 
strength of his hand, and the partner would not be 
justified in raising the bid unless he has a minimum 
of two tricks and a raiser. 

When the partner has declared two in a suit, it is 
tantamount to raising his own bid, it shows that his 
hand is good on its own merits for six tricks. To 
fulfil his contract of eight tricks he probably relies 
on one trick from his partner, and on the extra trick 
likely to accrue to him in playing the two hands. To 
raise his bid once it is only necessary to hold one 
trick and a raiser. 

COMBINING THE HANDS IN A SUIT DECLARATION 

To recapitulate the chief points for consideration 
in combining the two hands in the bidding are: 
I. Raising the partner's suit bid before he has 
raised his own bid. 

A minimum of two sure tricks is required 
to raise the bid once; and if it is a 
forced bid a minimum of three sure 
tricks is required to raise the bid once. 
II. Raising the partner's suit bid after he has 
raised his own bid. 

A minimum of one trick and a raiser will 
justify raising the bid once. 
III. Raising one's own suit declaration before the 
partner has spoken. 

The hand should be good enough for six 
tricks on its own merits to increase the 
contract from "one" to "two." 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



IV. Raising one's own suit declaration after the 
partner has passed. 

When the declaration has been overcalled 
and the partner passes, his refusal to 
speak may mean that he is pleased 
with the adverse declaration, or that 
he has insufficient support to offer his 
partner. Until more is known about 
his hand he should be given credit for 
only one trick. The original declarer 
has to rely on his own hand to fulfil 
his contract if he decides to increase it. 

RAISING A NO-TRUMP DECLARATION 

In raising the declaration of no-trumps, against 
an adverse suit bid the factors that have to be taken 
into account are : 

1. Whether the no-trump bidder has a guard in 

the declared suit, 

2. Whether the partner has had an opportunity 

to speak but has remained silent. 

The first one to raise the bid whether it is the 
original declarer, or his partner, must have a sure 
guard in the suit. Unless this is made an invariable 
rule it is impossible to know how far to advance the 
no-trump bid. 

It should be remembered that an original no- 
trump bid may be made on a strictly average hand, 
and the partner should not therefore raise the bid 
unless, in addition to protection in the adversaries' 
suit, his hand counts up to a minimum of 18 points, 
and he needs an additional 10 points for each sub- 
sequent raise. 



CONTINUATION OF THE BIDDING 125 

With a partner known to bid a thin no-trump to 
avoid passing or to keep the opponents from declar- 
ing a no-trump, instead of raising on any doubtful 
hand it is safest to pass the bid and allow the origi- 
nal declarer to make a further announcement. 

After the declarer of a no-trump has raised his 
own bid a minimum of 15 points is sufficient to raise 
the bid once, and an additional 7 points for each 
subsequent raise. 

"double bidding" 

In estimating the assisting value of a hand whether 
it is in a suit declaration or at no-trump the error 
of what is known as "double" bidding has to be 
carefully guarded against. It has already been 
pointed out that "if one has made a declaration 
that gives a certain information" that information 
is taken into account by all the other players who 
have made declarations. A declaration subse- 
quently made embodies that information together 
with what one's partner sees in his own hand. If 
that declaration is to be superseded it must be on 
account of some new facts not already disclosed. 

If the dealer calls "two diamonds" holding 

* 7, 3 

V Knave, 8, 2 

* Ace, King, Queen, Knave, 6 

* 10, 8, 4 

the second player "two royals," the third player 
"three hearts," and the fourth player "three roy- 
als," it would be incorrect for the dealer to raise 
the third player's bid, because the information given 
in the original bid has presumably been taken into 



126 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



account by the third player in making his bid. But 
the dealer would be quite justified in going to 
"four hearts" if instead of a doubleton his hand 
contained a singleton spade thus: 

* 7 

V Knave, 8, 2 

* Ace, King, Queen, Knave, 6 

* io, 8, 4, 3 

The singleton spade would constitute a new fact 
not already disclosed and would therefore justify 
an increase of contract. 

SPECULATIVE BIDDING 

The first round of the bidding is the "indica- 
tion" round designed to show the partner where 
high cards, aces and kings lie, modified in the case 
of a major suit declaration by the possibility of 
making the game. 

The second round of the bidding is the partner- 
ship or "combination" round in which the object 
is to support the partner and to push the adver- 
saries. 

If the declaration goes any further than a bid of 
"two" there must be more than a reasonable chance 
of game or rubber, or fear of the adversaries mak- 
ing the game or rubber. When a player undertakes 
a high contract there must not only be the chance 
of his fulfilling it but a prospect of his winning game 
in it. 

If the high contract has been undertaken with the 
object of pushing the adversaries, the declarer 
should have the ability to fulfil his contract, other- 
wise the adversaries might play to defeat the de- 



CONTINUATION OF THE BIDDING 127 



clarer and it is they who will have done the pushing. 

It cannot improve Royal Auction to make the 
chief object of the bidding the imposition of penal- 
ties on one's opponents and the avoidance of pen- 
alties oneself. When the bidding is on a sound 
basis the opportunities for penalties are few, and 
the declarer may take it for granted that the ad- 
versaries will not offer him any penalty points 
unless it is to keep him from the game or rubber. 

In the first game the bidding is comparatively 
tame. It is usually in the rubber game when both 
sides show an eagerness to play the hand that op- 
portunities for doubling and for penalties arise. 

BIDDING TO THE LIMIT 

A player should only bid to the full limit of his 
hand to make the game or the rubbery or to pre- 
vent the adversaries from making the game or the 
rubber. 

When the hand does not hold out a chance of 
game it is foolish to undertake a doubtful contract. 
A contract of u two no-trumps" over a sound suit 
bid of two rarely holds out a prospect of game. 
Similarly a contract of three or four in a minor suit 
when the game cannot be made should never be un- 
dertaken except to prevent the opponents from win- 
ning the game. It is always better to allow the ad- 
versaries to play the hand when the game is not in 
danger. 

In playing for partial games and intermediate 
scores the gain is little and the risk is great. The 
risk a declarer has to take to score game or rub- 
ber would not be justified in attempting to make 
any score short of game, because there are no step- 



128 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ping stones to game in Royal Auction, and to make 
two or three by cards in any suit call is only a feeble 
advance towards the rubber. The cards would be 
better employed in defeating an adverse contract. 

FLAG-FLYING 

A player should never undertake a contract diffi- 
cult to fulfil when he has no chance of the game, 
unless it is to save the game or rubber and he has 
a clear idea of what he stands to lose by flag- 
flying. The difference between losing a game and 
winning it is 250 points, and the difference between 
losing the rubber and winning it is 500 points. If 
therefore a player saves the game by flag-flying at 
the cost of 150 points or the rubber at a cost of 
300 points he has done well — provided that it was 
a certainty that the game or the rubber would have 
been lost. This is the point for him to be clear 
about before overcalling his hand; he must be fairly 
certain that the game or the rubber would other- 
wise be lost. 



PART XII 



DOUBLING 

Doubling, judicious doubling, is the distinctive 
mark of good auction. Proneness to double, and 
proneness to bid are two every-day faults, and it 
is possible to classify players into good, indifferent 
and bad, according to the number of times they 
are found doubling. Of the two bad habits, the 
doubling habit is the more difficult to eradicate. A 
player who wishes to save his money will observe 
two simple rules : when in doubt he will not bid, and, 
when in doubt he will not double. 

THE GOLDEN RULE FOR DOUBLING 

The first point for the would-be doubler to re- 
member is, that the double cannot carry him, but 
may carry the adversary gamewards. 

The second point for him to remember is, that 
he must catch his hare before he can cook it. 

On this latter point, a great deal has been writ- 
ten which, put briefly, means that a double of any 
suit should not be attempted unless the doubler is 
prepared to double every suit. That is to say, the 
double is only effective when the doubler has his 
man in a corner, and has guarded every avenue of 
escape. This is by far the most important rule for 
doubling, because, if the double suggest a shift, and 
offer a safe retreat, it is a futile double. 

129 



130 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



The golden rule for doubling therefore is: 
zvhen the declaration suits the would-be doublets 
hand he should remain silent, unless he is prepared 
to double any suit to which the opponents can shift. 

A player should never, by bidding or by doubling, 
drive his opponent from a bid that suits his hand, 
and on which they cannot make the game, to one 
that does not suit his hand and offers them an in- 
creased chance of game. 

WHEN TO DOUBLE 

The double has its times and seasons. In the 
rubber game, when both sides show an eagerness 
to play the hand, there is usually some tall calling, 
and then opportunities for profitable doubling arise. 
The double is, indeed, usually right when the adver- 
saries have made a high contract, and the fulfil- 
ment of the contract will give them game. An 
opportunity is then afforded for what is known as 
a "free double" — there is then no fear that the 
double will help the declarer to make the game, 
and there is no fear of a shift. 

A "free" double is, therefore, a double made 
when the adversary's completed contract will score 
game. The theory of the free double is, that the 
doubler does not endanger the game } and, when he 
has a good chance of defeating the contract, the ex- 
tra bonus of 50 to the declarer is not worth consid- 
ering. 

Conversely when the adversary's contract will 
not give them game, the double is unsound if it in 
any way endangers the game. The double would 
then only be right on a certainty, and if there is no 



DOUBLING 



131 



other declaration to which the adversaries can 
shift. 

To double a suit bid it is not necessary to have 
good trumps — the possession of trumps is not essen- 
tial. All that is required is, sufficient tricks to de- 
feat the contract. The doubler should count the 
number of certain tricks in his hand, and if the 
answer is satisfactory, and the other reasons for 
doubling are present, he may double. 

DOUBLING INSTEAD OF BIDDING 

A double that is very effective is, w r hen the second 
player has made a light overbid in a minor suit 
over the dealer's one no-trump. This is a situation 
that frequently arises, and the second player is often 
let off by the dealer over-calling with "two no- 
trumps. M Frequently, the third player relieves the 
situation for the second player, by overbidding. If 
the third player, or the dealer, have reason to sus- 
pect the lightness of the call, doubling is the right 
game, as a double is likely to be more remunera- 
tive than playing for game. The second player 
has undertaken a contract to make eight tricks 
against a no-trump, and he needs a good hand, and 
good trumps, to fulfil his contract. When the third 
player doubles, he informs the dealer that he is 
fully protected in the suit, and he gives the dealer 
the choice of overcalling or of playing to defeat 
the contract. 

There are many opportunities for doubling in 
preference to bidding, and many occasions in which 
a player should remain silent in preference to doub- 
ling. The novice will usually support his partner 
w r hen the double would be more profitable — it is pre- 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



cisely on such occasions that expert declaring tells. 

When the bid will put the declarer game, it is 
usually preferable to bid, but there must be a rea- 
sonable certainty of game. The chance of making 
game should only be relinquished when there is a 
fair certainty of defeating the contract by at least 
two tricks, that is to say a penalty score of 200 
points, and if it is the rubber game, for a penalty 
score of 300 points or more. 

THE PERSONAL ELEMENT 

The personal element is a great factor in doub- 
ling. No one cares to double the careful player 
who is known to fulfil his contract, but the over- 
sanguine player, with a reputation for flag-flying, 
always invites a double. As in other phases of the 
game, there is no rule for doubling that will fit every 
case. What would be a sound double under one set 
of conditions would be hopelessly unsound under 
the same conditions but with different players. 

BAD DOL'BLES 

A patently bad double is a double of u one," be- 
cause a contract to make the odd trick is one that 
is easy to fulfil, and, if the declarer has reason to 
doubt his ability to fulfil it, it is usually quite easy 
for him to branch to another declaration. The old 
form of doubling to show that one "can take care 
of the suit" is no longer used. 

The double was not introduced into the game 
with the object of conveying information, but with 
the object of penalizing a rash declaration. Doubles 
of "one'' in a trump suit, to show that the suit is 
stopped, are puerile, and it is precisely on such oc- 



DOUBLING 



133 



casions that the caller should remain silent. The 
only exception, and that a doubtful one, is the double 
of u one spade" by the second player to indicate two 
high cards in spades without sufficient length to 
declare royals. 

The "bluff double, " to frighten a player off a 
suit, is seldom successful against expert play, and 
usually recoils on the doubler. It was a favorite 
ruse when the game w r as young, but the present day 
declarer knows a trick worth two of that: instead 
of being frightened off his bid he will remain silent 
or re-double. 

A situation that often arises is when both sides 
are offering to make nine tricks. The partner of 
the declarer w 7 ho has last been over-called is then 
tempted to double "on principle, V instead of bid- 
ding, if he has confidence in his partner's bid. But 
it does not follow that, because both sides are con- 
tracting to make nine tricks, one of the two 
bids is unsound. It may be entirely due to unusual 
suit distribution when there is a chance of double 
ruffing on both sides. There is then a small chance 
of defeating the contract, and the double is not 
sound. 

Generally speaking, all risky doubles are bad 
doubles, because they double the trick-value of the 
opponents' declaration — and moreover the oppo- 
nents may "re-double." There should be a practical 
certainty of defeating the contract before a player 
attempts to double. 

And finally, to reiterate, the double is not sound 
if it affords the opponents an opportunity to make 
a safer bid. This is what the doubler has always 
to guard against: he must be prepared to double 



134 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



any declaration to which his opponents can shift, 
otherwise his double is not sound. 

RESCUING THE PARTNER FROM A DOUBLE 

It is seldom sound to rescue the partner from a 
double. If the doubler can be trusted to know his 
business he will not double anything unless he can 
double everything, and therefore increasing the 
commitment might increase the loss, and moreover 
the partner will not always be grateful for the rescue. 



PART XIII 



THE SCORE 

ORDER OF BIDDING 

There are many instructive features about the 
order of bidding. The effect of the trick values 
rising in sequence from 6 to 10, is, that all of the 
calls are game-winners, and all of them are in the 
fighting line, but it is only in the early bidding that 
all of them are effective. In the competition to 
secure the contract and to win the game, the higher 
values tell. It is clear that clubs cannot live in the 
competition against the two leading declarations, 
no-trumps and royals. It needs "four clubs" to 
overcall "two no-trumps" and "five clubs" to over- 
call "three royals." 

Diamonds and clubs are equally valuable from 
the game-winning point of view, but, as forcers, 
diamonds have a marked advantage over clubs. 
"Three diamonds" will overcall "two no-trumps," 
"four diamonds" will overcall "three royals," and 
"five diamonds" will overcall "four hearts," where- 
as in each case an extra trick is required in clubs. 
It is unnecessary to point out that the difference of 
one trick often means the difference between a pos- 
sible and an impossible contract. 

The disadvantage at which the club suit is placed 
is seen in the small number of hands in which clubs 
become the final declaration, i.e., in only four per 

135 



1 36 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



cent of the total number of hands played, as against 
eight per cent for diamonds. On account of the 
advantage diamonds possess in the bidding against 
no-trumps and royals, some players set up a distinc- 
tion between the two minor suits. They even bring 
diamonds into the same grade as hearts, but this is 
a great mistake owing to the extra trick that is re- 
quired for game. 

Royal Auction is largely a game of no-trumps r 
royals and hearts as they are the easiest game-win- 
ners, and any one of these declarations swamp all 
the other declarations put together as regards the 
number of hands played. No-trumps is oftenest 
called in the opening bid but it has frequently to 
yield the contract to the major suit bids, royals 
and hearts. 

Bringing the suit values close together and mak- 
ing them possible game-winners has undoubtedly 
resulted in forcing the pace. The important points 
are 16, 18 and 20 — any declaration up to the value 
of 18 is easily outbid. 

The bidding in the first game is comparatively 
tame, but when the rubber game is being played 
there is sometimes high bidding to secure the con- 
tract. Players will then overstep the safety line 
and enter into unsound contracts in the effort to 
win the rubber or to keep the other side from win- 
ning it. 

A call that is very useful in forcing an adverse 
bid to the breaking point is the nullo. u Three 
nullos" overcall "two no-trumps," "four nullos" 
overcall "three no-trumps" and "five nullos," a not 
unheard of bid, overcall "four no-trumps." The 



THE SCORE 



137 



antagonism between the negative and positive no- 
trumpers is one of the features of the game. 

EFFECT OF THE SCORE ON THE BIDDING 

A score of 6 would bring diamonds and clubs 
within four tricks of the game, and any more 
advanced score, 12 or more, would make them easy 
game winners. The score is therefore useful in pro- 
moting the minor suits to the rank of the major 
suits. When the score makes diamonds and clubs 
as easy game winners as royals and hearts, it has a 
marked effect on the bidding. 

When royals and hearts are brought within the 
same number of tricks for game as no-trumps, and 
the minor suits within only one extra trick of game, 
any suit call should be selected in preference to play- 
ing without trumps. 

An advanced score is always an asset. It in- 
creases the chances of the adversaries over-reach- 
ing themselves in their efforts to prevent the declarer 
obtaining the contract too easily. But from a game- 
winning point of view an advanced score has no 
great importance. It has been calculated that the 
score helps towards the winning of a game only once 
in five rubbers. 

GAME LINE 

All bids beyond the game-line are of necessity 
forced bids — but there may be perfectly sound de- 
claring on both sides when both have crossed the 
game-line. It means that each side has two suits, 
and is blank, or nearly so, in the other two suits. 
It is then more a contest of suits, than of aces and 



138 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



kings, and there is a likelihood of double ruffing 
whichever side obtains the contract. 

When the suits are distributed in this way, there 
is little chance of defeating the bid, and big risks 
have to be faced in order to obtain the contract, 
and to keep the other side from winning the game. 



PART XIV 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 

AGAINST A TRUMP DECLARATION 

The aim of the partners playing against a trump 
declaration is to make their aces and kings before 
the declarer has a chance of getting rid of his los- 
ing cards — and to ruff with their little trumps be- 
fore the declarer draws them. 

THE OPENING LEAD FROM A SEQUENCE OR A LONG 

SUIT 

In furtherance of these aims the opening or blind 
lead should be as safe a one as possible. The ideal 
safe lead is the king, from a three card suit headed 
by ace and king, because it retains the lead till 
the second round, it also retains the command of the 
suit, and it enables the leader to see the dummy 
hand. It is the best opening lead whether or not 
the partner has suggested a lead in the bidding. 

When this lead is not available and the third 
player has called a suit in the bidding, it is usually 
best to open with the highest card of his suit. 

The fate of the game often depends upon the 
opening lead. With strength in trumps declared 
against the partners, the long cards of their best 
suit are not likely to make tricks. At the same time 
their longest and strongest suit is the best defen- 
sive lead — especially if it contain three honors in 

139 



140 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



sequence, or any sequence of high cards. Moreover 
it is often useful to establish a long suit, and to force 
the dealer to ruff. 

SINGLETONS, DOUBLETOXS AND STRENGTHENERS AS 
OPENING LEADS 

A singleton is a good lead if the partner has 
called the suit in the bidding, otherwise there is 
great danger it will help establish the opponents' 
suit, and it will warn the declarer to draw trumps. 
A singleton should therefore only be led when there 
is no other good lead advisable, or when the dealer 
is able to stop the trump suit. The only unobjec- 
tionable singleton is a singleton ace. This is gen- 
erally conceded to be a good lead. A doubleton is 
only allowable if it is the partner's suit, or if it is a 
king-queen. With four or more trumps, one 
should not play for a ruff — a long suit should be 
opened and, if possible, the dealer should be forced 
to ruff and so weaken his control of the trump suit. 

A strengthening card may be useful in killing a 
good card in the exposed hand, or in saving a good 
card in the partner's hand, but the danger of lead- 
ing a strengthener from a short suit is that it may 
be playing the declarer's game by helping to estab- 
lish a suit for him. A strengthener is useful if it is 
a suit called by the partner, and it may be selected 
if it is a suit called by the dummy but, for obvious 
reasons, not if the suit has been called by the de- 
clarer. 

UNDESIRABLE OPENING LEADS' 

A suit in which a major or a minor tenace is 
held should, if possible, be avoided. But if there 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 



is length in the suit and there is danger of a ruff it 
is better to spoil a major tenace than to eventually 
lose the ace. 

Other bad suits to lead are suits headed by a 
weakly guarded king or queen; or an ace from a 
short suit as it gives up command of the suit, and 
makes an adverse king a winner. 

Some players make the mistake of leading a 
trump when the partner has doubled the declara- 
tion. This is a particularly bad lead, and it is play- 
ing through the partner and up to the declarer. 

TABLE OF OPENING LEADS AGAINST A TRUMP 



DECLARATION 



ACE should be led 
from 
Ace, King 



Continue 



King 



Leading ace and fol- 
lowing with king in- 
vites a ruff. 



Ace and three or four 
small cards 



Fourth-best 



Leading an ace from 
any other combination 
is an undesirable lead. 



KING should be led 
from 

Ace, King, Queen 
Ace, King, Knave 



Queen 



Continue 



Leading the king and 
then changing the suit 
indicates that the leader 
holds ace and knave 
and wishes to be led 
up to. 



Ace, King and one or 
more 

King, Queen, Knave, 
10 



Ace 



10 



The jump to the 10 
shows the queen and 
knave. 



King, Queen, Knave 



Knave 



The jump to the knave 
shows the queen. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Table of Opening Leads Against a Trump Declaration — Continued) 

It is best to change the 
suit as the declarer 
may be playing the 
Bath Coup. 



King, Queen, 10 
King, Queen and one 
or more 

QUEEN should be led 
from 

Queen, Knave, 10 
Queen, Knave, 9 
Queen, Knave 



KNAVE should be led 
from 
Knave, 10, 9, 2 



Continue 
Knave 



Leading from a double- 
ton headed by queen 
is a good lead when 
the partner has called 
the suit in the bidding. 



A strengthening card 
is a good lead when 
the partner has called 
the suit in the bidding. 

10 should be led from 
10, 9, 8, 2 

From any other combination the fourth-best should be led. 

SUMMARY OF LEADS WITH A DECLARED TRUMP 

ACE is led from 
Ace, King only 
Ace and three or more 

The ace is never led from any combination in 
which the king is present, except from the 
doubleton ace — king, so that with this single 
exception the lead of the ace always denies 
the king. 

The ace should not be led from ace-queen, or 
ace-knave if any other lead is available, un- 
less the suit is a long one and there is dan- 
ger of its being ruffed. 

Leading the ace from a short suit, ace and 
one or two others, is also undesirable as it 
may help establish the suit for the declarer. 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 



(Summary of Leads with a Declared Trump — Continued) 

KING is led from 
Ace, King and others 
King, Queen and others 

The lead of a king shows that the ace or the 

queen, or both ace and queen are held. 
Leading the king from king and one other is 
only right when the partner has called the 
suit in the bidding. 
A singleton king should never be led unless 
the partner has called the suit in the bid- 
ding. 

QUEEN is led from 
Queen, Knave, 10 
Queen, Knave, 9 

The lead of a queen denies both the ace and 
the king. 

KNAVE and 10 are led from the top of sequences. 

The lead of the knave denies the queen and 
the lead of the 10 denies the knave. 
From any other combination the FOURTH-BEST 

is led. 

RETURNING THE PARTNER'S LEAD 

While the return of the partner's no-trump lead 
is imperative, there is no obligation to return his 
lead in playing against a suit declaration. The re- 
turn lead is only right when partner has shown 
strength in the suit, and the return is up to weak- 
ness in the exposed hand. 

The partners are not playing to establish their 
suits but to save the game in the first place, and to 
defeat the contract in the second place, and it is 
important that they should make their winning cards, 



144 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



and ruff with their small trumps while they have the 
chance. 

When the third hand has no suit of his own, and 
there is nothing in the bidding or in the opening 
lead to guide him, he should look out for dummy's 
weak spots. 

The bidding and the exposed hand are the main 
factors in the adversaries' play. After dummy's 
hand is seen the position of many of the cards be- 
comes known and the general principle of leading 
through strength and up to weakness is the most 
advantageous for the partners to adopt, as it will 
help the third in hand to win tricks as cheaply as 
possible. 

A strong hand that is led up to gains greatly in 
strength. The declarer will do all he can to have 
his tenaces led up to, and so increase their trick 
value, and the aim of the adversaries should be to 
lessen their positional value by playing through 
tenaces, and up to known weakness. 

The exposed hand is a mark for the adversaries, 
the second player should play through weakly 
guarded honors and tenaces in the exposed hand, 
and the fourth player should select dummy's weak 
spots to lead up to. The partners should so arrange 
their leads as to play through the strong hand and 
up to the weak one as often as possible. 

INFERRING THE STRENGTH AND LENGTH OF THE 
TRUMP SUIT 

The opening lead, the cards exposed on the table, 
and the inferences drawn from the bidding, are the 
real, live factors in the adversaries' play against 
the declarer. The rest is subsidiary. 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 145 



Time-honored maxims of second hand and fourth 
hand play, discarding, unblocking, echoing, and call- 
ing have little practical importance, as most games 
are won or lost long before they can be brought 
into use. Everything has to be subordinated to the 
exigencies of the situation. The partners have to 
make their tricks while they can and as soon as ever 
they can. If they have saved the game, they have 
next to try to defeat the contract. 

When the opening lead has been made and 
dummy's cards are seen it is generally possible to 
form an idea of how the defense ought to be con- 
ducted. In drawing inferences as to the position 
of the high cards, and the long suits the most im- 
portant is the trump suit, and if the following simple 
method is adopted it should be possible for the 
adversaries to form a tolerably clear idea of both 
the length and strength of the trump suit in all the 
four hands. 

THE SEVEN RULE 

In the infancy of Bridge I suggested the Seven 
Rule as a rough and ready guide to the dealer in 
declaring no-trumps : 

Four tricks and three suits guarded. 

Five tricks and two suits guarded. 

Six tricks and one suit guarded. 

I at the same time suggested a formula for the 
declaration of hearts, then the most valuable suit. 
But this formula was found to be too complicated 
for the average player and was discarded in favor 
of the Seven Rule : 1 

1 First published in the Pioneer, Allahabad, in 1900. 

See also "Bridge Developments" Brentano's, New York,' 1904. 



146 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(The Seven Rule — Continued) 

Four hearts and three top honors. 
Five hearts and two top honors. 
Six hearts and one top honor. 

By top honors are meant the ace, king and queen. 

This rule makes the queen count the same as the 
ace, and obviously needs adjusting. I therefore 
suggest the following revised formula for a suit 
declaration : 

For the ace of trumps count. ... 4 

For the king of trumps count. . . 3 

For the queen of trumps count. . 2 

For the knave of trumps count. . 1 
For each card of the trump suit 

count 2 

Each card of the trump suit should be counted 
separately and in addition to the value assigned to 
the ace, king, queen and knave. 

MINIMUM STRENGTH FOR A SUIT DECLARATION 

The lowest strength on w T hich a trump suit should 
be declared according to this formula is 14, and 
the other requirements of a trump declaration must 
also be present. 

The object of the formula is to show the mini- 
mum strength required in the trump suit which 
should be headed by one or more top honors (ace 
or king) and which should ordinarily contain not 
fewer than five cards, e. g. 

Ace, Queen, 5, 4, 3 =16 
King, Queen, 5, 4, 3 =15 
King, Knave, 5, 4, 3 = 14 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 



H7 



There must also be compensating strength in the 
plain suits to make up for any strength lacking in 
the trump suit, so as to bring the hand up to declar- 
ing value according to the rules laid down for the 
opening bid. See the table of u one royal" and u one 
heart" bids given on page 33. 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE FORMULA 

According to the formula for a suit declaration: 



Points 

Ace = 4 

King = 3 

Queen = 2 

Knave = 1 

Value of honors = 10 

Value of 13 trumps at 2 points each = 26 

Total value of the trump suit = 36 



The question is how these values are distributed 
in the four hands — not only the numerical distribu- 
tion but the high cards. 

If the declarer has called one in the suit he should 
be credited with a minimum of ... ... 14 points. 

If he has called two in the suit he should be cred- 
ited with 18 points. 

When the dummy's hand is laid on the table the 
number of points he puts down should be added to 
the declarer's holding, and the sum will show the 
total trump strength in favor of the declarer. 

If the total strength in favor of the declarer is 



148 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



now deducted from 36 it will show the total strength 
in favor of the adversaries. 

Each of the partners will then know approxi- 
mately what trump strength the other holds. The 
trump suit being the most important suit there can 
be no question of the advantage of being able to 
infer the trump strength in the two unseen hands. 
The partners will then have a tolerably clear idea 
of whether the game is in danger. An unfavor- 
able distribution of the trump suit argues shortness 
in the plain suits on the declarer's side — the part- 
ners must make their aces and kings as soon as pos- 
sible, and they dare not play a short suit with the 
idea of ruffing, or a long suit with the idea of forc- 
ing the declarer. 

This method may seem difficult at first but it only 
wants use and experience to become automatic in 
working. 

THE OPENING LEAD AT NO-TRUMPS 

The opening lead is the starting point of the de- 
fence, and both the suit to lead and the card to lead 
are important. It should in the first place be a safe 
lead, that is one least likely to help the declarer, and 
in the second place it should be as informatory as 
possible as it is the first intimation of help to the 
partner. 

The general rule is to lead the highest card of 
the suit the partner has called in the bidding with 
the object of clearing his suit before he loses a card 
of re-entry. A suit is immensely strengthened by 
being led up to instead of being led away from. The 
earlier the lead is made the better — before the part- 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 



ner is forced to give up a re-entry that he might 
need to establish the suit. 

When the leader is in the happy position of hold- 
ing the ace-king of a suit he will naturally play the 
king to show the partner the ace, thus retaining the 
lead till he has seen dummy's hand. 

SELECTING PARTNER^ SUIT 

The leader cannot hope to establish two suits 
against the declarer: he must either try for the es- 
tablishment of his own suit or the partner's suit. If 
he selects his own suit in preference to his partner's 
it should be because it can be established straight 
away, or if it only needs one card to establish it. 
If the leader's suit contains a tenace it is clearly 
better that it should be led up to, and there is the 
more reason for opening the partner's suit. 

The number of tricks the partner declares, and 
the circumstances under which the declaration is 
made, will guide the leader in selecting his own or 
his partner's suit. An original declaration of "two" 
is of a totally different character from a declaration 
of "two" in the second round of the bidding — as in 
the latter case no rigid inference can be drawn as to 
the partner holding top cards in the suit. Again, a 
suit declaration by the third player in anticipation 
of a no-trump by the fourth player is probably made 
with the object of suggesting a lead — and it would 
be wrong to ignore the suggestion. The same rea- 
soning applies to a bid of "two" by the fourth player 
over the dealer's no-trump — the leader should not 
be deterred from opening the partner's suit merely 
because it has been overcalled by "two no-trumps" : 
the partner has probably a re-entry in a side suit, 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



the lead may help to clear the suit and the re-entry 
to bring it in, but if the partner has to use the re- 
entry to establish the suit he may never be able to 
bring it in. But if the partner has called "one" in 
a suit which has been overcalled by a no-trump to 
his left and he makes no further bid it is unwise to 
try for the establishment of the partner's suit if the 
leader has a good suit of his own. These are some 
of the main situations. 

If there is any doubt it is best to give the benefit 
of the doubt to the partner's suit because it is always 
better for a strong suit to be led up to instead of 
being led away from. The ideal is attained when 
each partner is able to lead up to the other's strong 
suit. 

THE CARD TO LEAD 

The convention of leading the highest card of 
the partner's declared suit must not be blindly fol- 
lowed. With ace or king in partner's suit it is gen- 
erally advisable to play so as to catch the adverse 
queen, which is the probable "stopper" the declarer 
has relied upon in increasing his no-trump contract. 
Instead therefore of leading the top card of the 
partner's declared suit the lowest, or the lowest but 
one, should be led — provided the leader does not 
block the partner's suit. He must be careful to re- 
tain a low card with which to return the suit after 
winning with ace or king. 

The general rule of leading the highest card of 
the partner's suit is subject to a further exception. 
On the rare occasions in which the leader holds four 
cards of his partner's suit, he should lead the lowest. 
But the lead of the lowest of four cards is in itself 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 



151 



subject to exceptions, as when queen, knave, 3, 2 are 
held when the queen should be led and not the 2, 
and from any combination such as 10, 9, 8, 2 when 
the lead of the 2 might result in blocking the suit. 
When in doubt the highest card should be played 
from any number in suit. 

OPENING LEADER'S OWN SUIT 

When the bidding has not suggested a lead the 
opening lead against a no-trump declaration should 
be made from the leader's longest suit with the ob- 
ject ( 1 ) of informing the partner where the leader's 
main strength lies; because (2) the struggle on each 
side is to establish one or more long suits, and the 
lead will help to establish the suit early; and be- 
cause (3) it is the lead least likely to help the de- 
clarer and it has a chance of hitting his weak spot 
and so saving the game before he can get into the 
lead. 

The card to lead is shown in the table that fol- 
lows. It is vital that the partners should know what 
assistance they can afford each other, and what suit 
or suits have a chance of being established against 
the declarer. 

When the leader has announced a suit and it has 
been overcalled by the declarer it means that the de- 
clarer is prepared for the lead. Unless the hand 
contains a card of re-entry and the declared suit can 
be established with a single lead it is better to select 
another lead, provided there is the choice of a sec- 
ond suit. 

When therefore the leader opens a suit other than 
the one he has declared, it is pretty broad hint to 
his partner that he holds a tenace and wishes to be 



152 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



led up to. When the third hand is in the lead he 
should play the highest card of the partner's suit, 
unless the cards in the exposed hand show that the 
lead is inadvisable. 

If the leader holds a major or a minor tenace 
(ace-queen or king-knave) without a re-entry and 
he has declared the suit in the bidding he should 
play a strengthening card from a short suit to put 
his partner in the lead so as the partner can play 
through the declarer. 

This play is only advisable when the leader has 
no card of re-entry; with a re-entry it is awlays bet- 
ter to play for the early establishment of the suit 
and to utilize the re-entry to bring the suit in. 

When there has been no bidding there is a slight 
advantage in opening a minor suit in preference to 
a major one, and as between the two minor suits a 
slight advantage in opening a club. This is the idea 
underlying the club convention. 

When the leader has no long suit a strengthening 
card from a minor suit will often prove the best 
lead. The idea in opening a minor suit is that the 
partner would overcall a no-trump more freely in 
a major than in a minor one and although he has 
made no announcement of strength in the suit the 
lead might materially strengthen his hand. 

TABLE OF LEADS AT NO-TRUMPS 

ACE should be led from 

Ace, Queen, Knave and two or more, with a re- 
entry: otherwise the Queen 

Ace, Queen, 10 and three or more with a re- 
entry: otherwise the 10 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 153 



(Table of Leads at N'o-Trumps — Continued) 

Ace, Queen and five others with a re-entry: other- 
wise the fourth-best 

Ace, Knave and five others with a re-entry : other- 
wise the fourth best 

Ace and seven others with a re-entry; otherwise 
the fourth best 

KING should be led from 

Ace, King and five or more, with or without a re- 
entry 

Ace, King, Queen and one or more, with or with- 
out a re-entry 

Ace, King, Knave, 10 and one or more, with or 
without a re-entry 

Ace, King, Knave and two or more, with or with- 
out a re-entry 

King, Queen, Knave and one or more, with or 
without a re-entry 

King, Queen, 10 and one or more, with or with- 
out a re-entry 

King, Queen with five or more, with or without 
a re-entry 

Ace, King, Knave, 10 with a re-entry: otherwise 
the Knave 

Ace, King, Knave and one other, with a re-entry : 

otherwise the Knave 
Ace, King and three or more, with a re-entry: 

otherwise the fourth best 

QUEEN should be led from 

Ace, Queen, Knave and one or more, without a 
re-entry 

Queen, Knave, 10 and one or more 
Queen, Knave, 9 and one or more 



154 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Table of Leads at No-Trumps — Continued) 

KNAVE should be led from 

Ace, King, Knave, 10, without a re-entry 
Ace, Knave, 10 and one or more 
Knave, 10, 9 and others 

10 should be Fed from 

King, Knave, 10 and one or more 
10, 9, 8 and one or more 

LEADING A HIGH CARD AT NO-TRUMPS 

The principle that should guide the leader in 
opening his suit against a no-trump declaration is 
that he should only play a commanding card of his 
long suit, the ace or king, when he sees his way to 
gaining complete command of the suit, or when he 
holds one or more cards of re-entry. With a re- 
entry he should play a bold game and take the risk 
of his suit being stopped in the second or third round 
as he has a chance to come in again with his re-entry 
and make the rest of the suit. 

The lead of an ace or a king should therefore 
indicate great strength in the suit and be regarded 
by the partner as an urgent invitation to unblock the 
suit. The exposed hand will guide the partner in 
unblocking. 

Some authorities recommend leading the ace in- 
stead of the king from ace, king, queen and four or 
more and from ace, king, and five or more small 
cards, but very little is really gained by differentiat- 
ing between ace leads and king leads from the same 
combination of high cards. Leading the king and 
not the ace makes for simplicity in the leads and 
nothing is lost so far as unblocking is concerned be- 
cause the partner must prepare to unblock whether 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 155 



the ace or the king is led. The lead of the ace 
should deny the king, and the lead of the king 
should show either ace or queen or both. 

The lead of the ace should indicate such holdings 
as ace, queen, knave; ace, queen, 10; ace, queen and 
others with a re-entry: that is the lead of the ace 
while denying the king, should announce a re-entry 
in another suit or should show great length in the 
suit. 

SIMPLIFYING THE LEADS 

The partners should give each other definite in- 
formation as to their holdings, anything indefinite 
or anything likely to mislead is worse than useless 
and may help the declarer. It is a great advantage 
to the partners to simplify the leads — take the case 
of the knave leads : 

King, Queen, Knave, 3, 2 
Ace, Knave, 10, 3, 2 
King, Knave, 10, 3, 2 
Knave, 10, 9, 2 

The first lead was derived from Whist and the 
others from Bridge, but the conditions at Royal 
Auction are different from Whist or Bridge. Lead- 
ing the knave from the last combination always as 
a strengthener and never from any other combina- 
tion would be the most helpful to the partners and 
the least misleading. 

Number-showing leads rarely accomplish any- 
thing at Royal Auction, and it is always more im- 
portant for the partners to know each other's suits 
than to know how many cards the suits contain. 



1 56 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



RETURNING PARTNER^ LEAD AT NO-TRUMPS 

A player must return his partner's no-trump lead 
unless the exposed hand shows that it would be 
wrong to do so, or there is clearly a better chance 
of saving the game or of defeating the contract by 
adopting another course. It is a fatal mistake to 
lead up to weakness in the exposed hand, before the 
partner has established his suit, as it might take out 
a re-entry which he needs to bring in his suit. 

The next point for the fourth player to remember 
is that he should give his partner all the assistance 
he can in establishing his suit without getting in his 
way. 

Dummy 
9> 3 

Leader Fourth Player 

King, Knave, io, 7, 2 Ace, 6 

If the leader plays the knave, the fourth player 
must put on the ace for several reasons : firstly to 
help in the establishment of the suit, secondly, be- 
cause it is wrong to finesse against the partner, 
thirdly, because it would establish the king — 10 
tenace in the leader's hand, and fourthly, because 
playing low would block the partner's suit. 

UNBLOCKING 

Opportunities for unblocking rarely occur in the 
partner's play against a trump declaration and when 
they do occur all that the "short" hand has to re- 
member is to play u high." Unblocking has, how- 
ever, special importance at no-trumps. 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 



157 



Unblocking the partner's suit is a simple matter 
if the lead is correct and the inferences from the 
lead are correctly drawn. The play of a command- 
ing card shows that the leader hopes to obtain early 
and complete control of the suit. When the leader 
opens with a king, he probably holds the ace or 
queen-knave or queen-10 and the fourth player 
should play the ace or the queen, on the king, unless 
there are three cards to the knave or four cards to 
the queen in the exposed hand. In the same way 
the king should be played by the fourth player if 
the ace is led, as the lead is probably from ace, 
queen, knave and others, or ace, knave, 10 and 
others — it is right to play the king unless the ex- 
posed hand shows a clear reason for holding it up. 

The card led and the exposed hand must always 
guide the fourth player in unblocking: the important 
point is to know the leads and the reasons for each 
card led. 

If the fourth player holds four cards of his part- 
ner's suit, the rule is for him when he is not cover- 
ing the trick, to play his third best and to retain his 
lowest card until the last round. The value of so 
playing lies not only in unblocking but in the infor- 
mation it conveys as the partner is often able to 
place every card in the suit. 

THE DISCARD 

The general rule is to discard from weakness, 
but the rule is liable to many exceptions. The chief 
thing is for the partners to protect their hands and 
to give the declarer as little information as possible 
by their discards. Three things should be carefully 
avoided: 



158 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(The Discard — Continued) 

1. Unguarding weakly protected knaves and tens 

2. Betraying the partner's hand 

3. Blanking a suit. 

Firstly, a knave or ten will often hold up the 
command of an adverse suit when the partner's 
king or queen has been captured, whereas discard- 
ing from such a suit often weakens one's defense 
at its weakest point. 

Secondly, with a major or a minor tenace in the 
exposed hand there is the danger of betraying the 
position of the partner's king or queen. The de- 
clarer is generally anxious to know which adversary 
is weak in his strong suit. With ace-queen or ace- 
knave in dummy's hand the third player should not 
discard from the suit if he can help it, as it may 
tell the declarer on which side he should finesse. 

Thirdly, blanking a suit allows the declarer to 
read the partner's hand. 

The information gained in the bidding, the ex- 
posed hand, the lead and the play make it unneces- 
sary to make the discard informatory. The discard 
at Royal Auction is therefore mainly a protective 
measure. If consistently with this primary object 
of protection the partners are able to convey infor- 
mation by their discards that is likely to be useful 
to the partnership they should certainly give it, but 
there should be no effort to make the discard infor- 
matory at the sacrifice of protection. 

The discard of a card lower than a seven means 
that a lead in the suit is not desired, and conversely, 
the discard of a seven or a higher card shows 
strength or protection in the suit. The discard of 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 



159 



an unnecessarily high card followed by a lower one 
is an invitation to the partner to lead the suit. 

The advantage of so discarding is that it directs 
the partner's lead and it tells him that he need not 
keep up protection in the suit: at the same time it 
does not give the declarer a clue to the discarder's 
weak suits. The declarer knows what cards are 
held against him, and there is always less danger in 
telling him where strength lies than in letting him 
know where weakness lies. 

The discard of a commanding card shows full 
control of the suit, and is an urgent invitation to 
the partner to lead the suit. 

The disadvantage of all directive discards from 
strength is that they may be giving up cards that 
are good for tricks. 

THE CLUB CONVENTION 

When the fourth player doubles a no-trump to 
his left without having named any suit in the bid- 
ding the conventional opening lead is the highest 
club in the second player's hand. It is seldom good 
bidding to call a minor suit against an adverse no- 
trump and of the two minor suits, clubs are oftenest 
shut out in the bidding. It is therefore a fair infer- 
ence that the doubler holds strength in clubs 

This apparently restricts doubling, because if a 
club lead will not suit the fourth player's hand he 
is barred from doubling. In practice, however, it 
increases the chances of doubling because a player 
with a good club suit is given an opportunity of di- 
recting his partner's lead. Moreover, the club is 
only led when a player has not named a suit in the 
bidding — if he has called a suit it should be opened 
notwithstanding its having been overcalled. 



i6o 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



CONVENTIONS AND INFERENCES 

The object of conventions is to give information 
to the partner. But if the information cannot be 
made use of and is in no way vital to the partner- 
ship, or if it is derivable from the bidding, the play 
and the exposed hand, there is the danger of need- 
lessly enlightening the declarer. Take the case of 
the "down and out echo" which consists in playing 
an unnecessarily high card to the first trick and a 
lower one in the next round. If it is desired to 
trump the third round of the suit and the partner is 
in the lead it is a most useful signal, but if the de- 
clarer is in the lead it may warn him to draw trumps. 

The bidding simplifies the play to the extent that 
it locates the position of the suits and the high cards. 
When there has been a long auction a great deal of 
information may be gathered as to the lie of the 
cards. Suit strength is indicated by the various suit 
bids, strength in at least three suits by a no-trump 
bid and all round weakness by a spade. 

Ability to draw rapid and correct inferences 
makes for good auction; this is the most interesting 
part of the game, and a great help in leading, play- 
ing and finessing. 

The adversaries of the declarer should have a 
clear idea of the number of tricks required in the 
first place to save the game; in the second place to 
defeat the contract. When the game is in danger 
they have to make their tricks as soon as possible, 
and either partner when he is in the lead and he 
has not the material for saving the game must credit 
the other with the card or cards required to save 
the game, and he should order his play accordingly. 
When there is only one line of play that will save 



THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 161 



the game, however remote the chances of success 
may be, it is the one line that must be adopted. 
What passes for card instinct and inspiration when 
a player follows an unexpected course that saves the 
game is just judgment. 



PART XV 



THE DECLARER'S PLAY 

WITH A DECLARED TRUMP 

There are three leading ideas in the declarer's 
play of a suit declaration: 

1. Drawing trumps to bring in a long suit in 

either hand, 

2. Using dummy's weak trumps to ruff before 

drawing trumps, and 

3. Establishing a cross ruff. 

The exposed hand and the inferences from the 
bidding will tell him in almost every case whether 
or not the contract is in danger, and if that is fairly 
assured, whether he has a chance of winning the 
game. 

In the large majority of hands there are one or 
more long suits that the declarer has a chance of 
bringing in: holding a majority of trumps he should 
not delay drawing them. If there is any fear of the 
adversaries ruffing the declarer should make the 
hand a no-trumper by extracting trumps, and when 
the trump lead is urgent it is best to play the top 
honors so as to get out as many trumps as possible 
without finessing. 

When there is no suit to protect, or when dummy 
has a suit that is not self-established and the hand 

163 



1 64 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



has no re-entries either in the trump suit, or the side 
suits to bring the long suit in, nothing is lost by 
allowing the adversaries to play the hand for the 
declarer; their ignorance of their resources is often 
a great help to the declarer. 

The declarer must always be careful not to re- 
duce his strength in trumps before drawing the ad- 
verse trumps. A common mistake made by begin- 
ners is to cheerfully accept ruffs in the adverse suit 
before playing trumps. Should one of the oppo- 
nents hold four trumps it gives him an excellent op- 
portunity of further forcing the declarer and so 
weakening his control of the trump suit. If the de- 
clarer is deprived of his long trumps the remaining 
cards win on their merits and the opponents have a 
chance of establishing their long suits. 

PLAYING WITHOUT TRUMPS 

In playing without trumps the struggle on each 
side is to establish their long suits. The declarer 
while playing for the establishment of his own long 
suit, must prevent the adversaries from establishing 
theirs. 

As a rule the possibilities of a hand lie entirely 
in one or two suits, and by confining his attention 
to those suits in which extra tricks may be made, it 
is always possible for the declarant to form a well- 
defined scheme of attack or defence before playing 
to the opening lead. The few seconds a player de- 
lays in studying the hands and mapping out his plan 
is really a gain in time, as the rest of the hand can 
then be played quickly and without hesitation. It 



THE DECLARER'S PLAY 165 



may be necessary as the game progresses to modify 
the original plan, but when this is necessary a player 
should still look ahead and arrange in advance how 
he will play the rest of the hand. 

The four chief ways in which the declarer may 
increase the trick-value of his hand are ( 1 ) by lead- 
ing from the weak hand up to the strong one, (2) 
by finessing, (3) by creating re-entries in the weak 
hand, and (4) by underplay. 

THROWING THE LEAD, FINESSING AND UNDERPLAY 

There are many hands that require great judg- 
ment in arranging the leads. With king, queen and 
a small card in the exposed hand, and little ones in 
the declarer's hand, obviously the way to make both 
the king and the queen is to lead from the declarer's 
hand. This simple rule of play has many exten- 
sions. The declarer knows what cards he can de- 
pend upon to take tricks and he must so plan his 
leads, that he can play up to the strong hand, or 
oblige the adversaries to play up to the strong hand. 

He should note where finesses are possible, and 
arrange his leads in advance so as to get the most 
out of every combination of high cards in either 
hand. The declarer having the sole direction of 
two hands can play each combination so as to get 
the most out of it. The general rule is to lead the 
highest card from the weak hand up to the strong 
one. The chief combinations for finessing are : 



1 66 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Throwing the Lead, Finessing and Underplay — Continued) 



Holding 


Lead 


7~| 111' 

Fartner holding 


5> 4, 3 


3 and finesse 






queen 


Ace, Queen, 2 


5> 4, 3 


3 and finesse 10 


Ace, Knave, 10 


Queen, Knave, 2 


Queen and fi- 






nesse it 


Ace, 4, 3 


Knave, io, 2 


Knave and fi- 




nesse it 


Ace, 4, 3 


Knave, 9, 4 


Knave and fi- 




nesse it 


Ace, 10, 3, 2 


King, 5, 4 


King first round, 
4 second round 
and finesse 






knave 


Ace, Knave, 3, 2 


Ace, 5, 4 


Ace first round, 
4 second round 
and finesse 






knave 


King, Knave,3,2 


Knave, 5, 4 


Knave and fi- 




nesse it 


King, 10, 3, 2 



Many subtle inferences are open to the declarer 
in the play of the hand. The adversaries' bids will 
help him locate honors and will guide him in ar- 
ranging his leads and especially in taking finesses. 
The bidding conveys not only positive indications 
but also negative ones that are just as useful. For 
instance when a player refuses to raise his partner's 
bid he is marked with less than two tricks and his 
silence will help locate missing honors. The open- 
ing lead is another valuable source of information, 
indeed there is no part of the bidding and the play 
from which inferences cannot be drawn. 



THE DECLARER'S PLAY 167 



When the exposed hand has great length in a suit 
with no card of re-entry in a side suit, the declarer 
should underplay the first round of the suit from 
dummy, and so create a re-entry in the suit itself to 
help in its establishment. For instance dummy holds 
Ace, King, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, the declarer should play a 
small card up to dummy and allow the opponents 
to make the first trick. By reserving the ace and 
king for the second and third rounds there is a 
chance of making six tricks in the suit instead of 
only two. 

Examples of establishing a suit by finessing, dou- 
ble finessing, creating re-entries, unblocking, retain- 
ing command of an adverse suit and of underplay 
will be found in the illustrative hands. 

LOCATING ADVERSE STRENGTH 

It has been pointed out that the more known fac- 
tors one has to deal with in a game the greater the 
skill required to play it well. Of all games of the 
Whist and Bridge family the number of known fac- 
tors is greatest in Royal Auction and the opportu- 
nities for drawing subtle inferences are correspond- 
ingly greater than at Whist or Bridge. 

The declarer begins the play of the two hands 
with a full knowledge of his resources — if he is able 
to locate adverse high cards and suit strength he 
can reduce the management of the hands to a double 
dummy problem. This should be his aim, and in 
playing a no-trump hand he will find the scale of 
values given on page 18 an invaluable aid in locating 
adverse high cards, if he will adopt the following 
plan. 



i68 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



HOW TO USE THE COUNTING SYSTEM 

The counting cards in each suit valuing the 

Points 

Ace at 7 

King at 5 

Queen at 3 

Knave at 2 

10 at 1 

Amount to a total for each suit of 18 

As there are four aces, kings, queens, knaves, and 
tens, the total value of the four suits (18x4) 
amounts to 72 points; in other words all the count- 
ing cards in the pack amount to 72 points. 

If the declarer's cards foot up to 32 points and 
dummy lays down a hand worth 20 points a very 
simple calculation will show that the value of the 
remaining honors held by the adversaries of the 
declarer are only worth 20 points. 

If one of them has made a suit bid it indicates 
strength in the suit: he probably holds some such 
combination as 

Ace, 10 
King, Queen 
King, Knave, 10 

that is to say the value of the counting cards held 
by him may be reckoned at 8 points. 

Practically the entire strength of the four hands 
is now disclosed to the declarer and the knowledge 
will help him in arranging his leads and finesses. 
Even without a call from the "other side" the leads 
show high card strength, and as the game progresses 



THE DECLARER'S PLAY 169 



and one of the opponents plays an ace or a king the 
situation becomes clearer. 

This is merely offered as a suggestion to the ad- 
vanced player. The expert bidder who constantly 
uses the rule soon acquires an astonishing facility in 
locating high cards that are held against him, and 
however difficult it may at first sight appear the man 
who would play good auction is strongly advised to 
always count the cards by this rule. Its lines of de- 
velopment are practically unlimited, and the player 
who uses the system will by a process of elimination 
locate adverse strength with astonishing precision. 



PART XVI 



HOW TO PLAY NULLOS 

THE BLIND LEAD AT NULLOS 

A singleton is a good lead against a nullo because 
it enables the leader to get valuable discards when 
the suit is returned. The lower the card the better 
the lead. Another good lead is a doubleton, espe- 
cially if it contains two low cards. 

Failing these two leads, one of the safest blind 
leads is an intermediate card (the third lowest) of 
a four or five card suit which is properly protected 
with low cards. With such a suit for instance as 
Ace, 7, 5, 4 the opening lead should be the 7. 

The declarer has the great advantage in playing 
a nullo of knowing how many losers he has in the 
two hands under his control, and it should be the 
aim of the partners to inform each other of their 
holdings, and so place themselves as far as possible 
on level terms with the dealer. 

THE MINUS FOUR RULE 

The lead of the third lowest card of a suit that is 
protected with low cards is one of the safest, and 
at the same time one of the most informatory leads. 
Assuming that the suit is distributed like this : 

171 



172 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(The Minus Four Rule — Continued) 



Knave, 8, 5, 4 



B 



Ace, 7 



6, 3 



Y 



A 



z King, 9, 2 



Queen, 10 



If the 7 is led and the partner knows that it is the 
conventional lead of the third lowest card of the 
suit, all he has to do is to deduct four from seven 
(the spots on the card that is led) to discover that 
there are three cards lower than the card led, that 
are not in the leader's hand. In this case he has 
one lower card, and the exposed hand two lower 
ones, and he knows that A must take the trick un- 
less he is chicane. 

The rule is quite simple, the partner has always 
to deduct four from the face value of the card that 
is led to find out how T many lower cards are out. It 
is therefore called the minus four rule. His own 
hand, and the exposed hand, will tell the third player 
in almost every case, with fair certainty, whether or 
not he should cover the trick. He is enabled not 
only to place with certainty all the lower cards, but 
from the exposed and his own hand, he can place 
most of the higher ones. In the case under consid- 
eration he can place every card up to the 10 before 
playing to the trick. This knowledge of how the 
cards in a suit are distributed is usually an invaluable 
guide to the third player when he is in the lead. 

ONLY A FEW LEADING IDEAS IN THE PLAY OF A 



The play of a Nullo hand looks more difficult 
than it really is. This is due entirely to its newness. 



NULLO 



HOW TO PLAY NULLOS 



After all there are only a few leading ideas in the 
play and if these are mastered, one at a time, a 
player will soon become expert in manipulating a 
nullo hand. Instead of a confusing mass of abstract 
ideas dealing with questions of the blind lead, and 
the management of the cards, it would be more use- 
ful to the learner to play a hand completely through. 
The hand that follows has been specially selected 
on account of the many instructive features that will 
be found in the bidding and the play, but especially 
in the play. 

TEST HAND NO. I 

A Ace, 8, 5, 3 
¥ King, 6, 2 
4 Queen, 9, 5, 3 
Queen, 3 



4k Queen, 10, 6, 2 

V Ace, 10, 8 

♦ King 

* Ace, 8, 7, 5, 2 



¥ Knave, 9, 5, 3 

+ Ace, 10, 8, 7, 4, Z 

<f» Knave, 6, 4 

THE BIDDING 

A "One Nullo" 

Y "One Royal" 
B "Two Nullos" 
Z "Two Royals" 

A "Three Nullos" 

Y "No" 
B "No" 

Z "Three Royals" 

A "Four Nullos" 
Closed 



A King, Knave, 9, 7, 4 

¥ Queen, 7, 4 

^ Knave, 6 

•X, King, 10, 9 




174 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



COMMENTS ON THE BIDDING 

A's hand according to the nullo formula totals 18 
and is a first rate nullo — it has a blank suit which 
is an invaluable aid in getting rid of winning cards. 

B's overcall is in order because he has four 
guarded suits. While the original declarer may call 
a nullo with only three guarded suits, the partner 
should not raise a nullo unless he has all four suits 
guarded with low cards. This is one of the most 
important rules for raising the nullo bid, and unless 
it is invariably followed the original declarer of a 
nullo will never know how far he may safely carry 
the bid. 

B's hand appears to conflict with the nullo for- 
mula — but it really does not so conflict. As already 
stated the formula should not be applied to a dou- 
bleton — if it is applied the suit should only be reck- 
oned at half value. 

Z has a splendid hand for raising his partner's 
bid and is prepared to go to u three royals." A has 
no hesitation in calling "three nullos"; it is easy to 
see that if his partner has small cards in the four 
suits the two hands must dovetail. 

Y says "no" because having declared his full 
strength in the first* round he must perforce be silent. 

Z is fully justified in declaring "three royals" but 
he cannot go further, seeing his partner's persistent 
refusal to speak. 

A now advances the bidding to "four nullos" 
prompted by two considerations, his splendid nullo 
hand and the fact that he is blank in royals and he 
can do little to prevent the game in that suit. 



HOW TO PLAY NULLOS 



THE PLAY OF THE HAND 



Trick I 



B 







Y's correct lead is the 9 of spades. His partner 
can by applying the minus four rule place every card 
in the suit. 

Z plays his highest card, the queen, with confi- 
dence as the five cards lower than the 9 are in his 
hand and the exposed hand, and he must credit his 
partner who has declared the suit with the two un- 
seen honors. 

A discards the knave of hearts in preference to 
the ace of diamonds because he knows the diamond 
suit is safe, for reasons that will presently appear. 
He does not select the knave of clubs for his first 
discard because he can play it on dummy's queen 
which must take a trick. 



176 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(The Play of the Hand — Continued) 

THE RETURN LEAD 
Trick 2 
B 



* 



4* 4* 







•% A 














* * 

4» - A 







A singleton is a good return lead but Z dare not 
lead his singleton king of diamonds as it would en- 
able the exposed hand to get rid of the queen, and 
it might also enable the dealer to play a high card. 
An ace or a king is bad to lead oft with, but either 
of the cards may be played second or third in hand, 
because then only one opponent is able to get rid of 
a high card. 

Z cannot return a spade for fear of giving the 
dealer a valuable discard, and his hearts are too bad 
to open, his best lead is the third lowest club, the 7. 
The dealer ducks the first round to coax Y to play 
low. Y puts on the 10, which denies the knave. 

The usual rule of play second, third, or fourth in 
hand is to play the lowest of a sequence, this rule 
is reversed in nullos, and the highest card of a se- 
quence is played to enable the partner to know that 
there is no higher card in sequence. This play is 



HOW TO PLAY NULLOS 



the most informatory as it enables the partner to 
place the next higher card to the card played. Y's 
play of the 10 of clubs enables Z to locate the knave 
with the dealer. 



THROWING THE LEAD 



Trick 3 
B 





A 



Y cannot lead spades for reasons already pointed 
out; a heart is not promising as dummy can duck 
the lead; and diamonds are obviously bad. 

If the position is analyzed it will be found that 
whatever Y now leads will not alter the result in his 
favor. His best play is to put B in the lead, and to 
force him to come up to Y in any of the remaining 
suits, spades, hearts, or diamonds. 

Throwing the lead is an important factor in the 
play of a nullo hand. It is a great advantage to be 
in the lead at no-trumps but it is a great disadvan- 
tage to be in the lead at nullos. 



178 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



COUNTING THE CARDS IN EACH SUIT 



Trick 4 
B 




• Po ■ 

jo 1 

A 

It is useful in playing nullos to count every card 
in a suit, and just as a player reckons his high se- 
quences in playing no-trumps he should reckon low 
sequences in playing nullos. Having the 2, 3, 4 and 
5 of diamonds in the two hands the declarer sees 
that the opponents cannot duck the suit. The great 
advantage the declarer has in playing a nullo is a 
knowledge of his own losers and the opponents' 
winners. The knowledge of his resources in the dia- 
mond suit tells the declarer that, however the king, 
knave and six may be held, the opponents must take 
at least two tricks in diamonds. The play of the 
king from Z and the knave from Y leaves the 6 a 
certain winner, and the declarer knows that he can 
place the lead with a low diamond and the oppo- 
nents cannot return the suit to him. 



HOW TO PLAY NULLOS 



179 



VALUE OF EXIT CARDS 



7 


'rick 
B 


5 




v> <? 






C9 CO 
V V 


















-y v 






A 





Z's choice of a lead is now narrowed down to 
the heart suit, a club would allow dummy to throw 
away a winner, and a spade might give the same 
opportunity to the dealer. The dealer refuses to 
take over the trick having a sure exit card in the 2 
of hearts. 



Trick 6 
B 








c 


Y 













< 



o o 
o 



A 



i8o ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



The diamond suit looks better than the heart: it 
enables Z to get rid of the ace of hearts. An anal- 
ysis of the hand will show that Y would not have 
done better by playing a heart. 

TAKING AN INEVITABLE TRICK 
Trick 7 
B 




9 9 




<? <? 


9 






9 9 




9 . 9 






9 


9 9 




9 9 



9 9 
9 9 



A 

The dealer has to cover with dummy's king and 
to lead the 2 of hearts so as to throw the lead: 



Trick 8 
B 



Trick g 
B 



9 




9 


9 



A A 



9 



4- * 



9 

A 



A 



HOW TO PLAY NULLOS 



181 



Y has no better lead than the 7 of spades, he 
achieves nothing by playing the 4 of spades and less 
by playing a high spade. 

The declarer has to play dummy's cards with great 
caution so as to make his exit at the right moment. 
It is in the last few tricks, when the hand is practi- 
cally reduced to a double dummy problem, that play 
tells. Usually when a trick has to be taken it is best 
to take it early in the hand, because exit cards be- 
come more valuable as the players are nearing the 
last few tricks. If there is any doubt about an exit 
card the player should not postpone taking an in- 
evitable trick. 



END PLAY AT NULLOS 

Trick 10 Trick 11 

B B 



A 



<> o 

0% 



This is the correct moment to play the ace of 
spades and to throw the lead at trick 1 1 with the 3 
of spades. The two last tricks are : 



1 82 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(End Play at Nullos — Continued) 

Trick 12 Trick /j 



B 












m 






* * 




* 




* * 


|o v o 




|o 




A 





B 













0° 




^0 



4- 







The declarer makes his contract and the game. 



HOW TO PLAY NULLOS 



183 



TEST HAND NO. 2 

Here is another interesting hand that occurred in 
actual play: the declarer made a grand slam against 
expert play. 

A 10, 5, 2 

V King, 10, 8, 5, 4 
4 King, Queen, 6, 3 
* 4 

A King, 9, 7 
V Ace, Queen, Knave, 

9, 7 

♦ Knave, 7 

* 7, 6, 5 

A Knave, 6, 3 

V 6 

4 Ace, 10, 8, 4, 2 
4» Queen, 9, 8, 3 




Ace, Queen, 8, 4 
3, 2 
9> 5 

Ace, King, Knave, 
10. z 



THE BIDDING 

A "One Nullo" 

Y "One heart" 
B "Two Nullos" 
Z "No" 

A "No" 

Y "Two hearts" 
B "No" 

Z "No" 

A "Three Nullos" 

Y "No" 
B "No" 

Z "Three hearts" 

A "Four Nullos" 
Closed 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



VALUE OF XULLOS AS FORCERS 



This hand is a good instance of the value of nullos 
as forcers. In the first round Z might have called 
"thiee 1 ' clubs to indicate assistance for no-trumps, 
but this call with the diamonds suit adversely held 
would have been fatal. The first four tricks were : 



Trick i 
B 



Trick 2 
B 



Y 


* V 




1 > ; '.: 

* Z Y 


V . J 










<? 1 



as 



A 
B 





> 










Y 










o A o 

0<>0 




o o 






A 



A 

Trick 

B 

r~rn 



oo 
o v o 
o o 












_: :_ 



A 

It makes no difference if Y opens with his double- 
ton diamond suit. Indeed against any lead and any 



HOW TO PLAY NULLOS 185 



play the declarer can not be prevented from making 
a grand slam, although there are nine bridge honors 
in the two hands, an ace, two kings, two queens, a 
knave, and three tens, to say nothing of nines and 
eights that are possible winners. 

MAKING A TARGET OF DUMMY 

The exposed hand is the great mark for the part- 
ners playing against a nullo contract. 

One method that has been suggested for the ad- 
versaries' play is to concentrate attention on dum- 
my's hand, to draw his exit cards, and then place 
him in the lead when he has several established tricks 
and no means of escape. But this method can only 
be successfully employed in a small percentage of 
hands — e. g., when dummy holds a very long suit 
of which the adversaries hold the deuce, and when 
the declarer can be kept out of the lead. 

The declarer has a knowledge of his resources — 
the adversaries have not. He is in a better position 
than the adversaries to know when to w T in a trick, 
either in his own hand or the dummy, and so frus- 
trate the adversaries' plans. 

If there is danger of dummy being left with win- 
ners, he can usually create a re-entry in his own 
hand, and win the trick at the right moment. In 
the majority of cases he only needs an exit card in 
either hand to avert a fiasco. 

The success of this method of playing against the 
declarer is dependent on a concatination of circum- 
stances in favor of the adversaries, and rarely suc- 
ceeds against an alert declarer. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



TEST HAND NO. 3 

Here are two further examples from actual play. 

4k Queen, 9, 6, 2 
V Ace, Knave, 4, 3 
♦ King, 3 

Kna-ve, 7, 3 

A Ace, King, Knave 8, 
7 

V King, 5 
♦ Ace, Knave, 10, 8 
•fc Ace, 9 

A 4, 3 

V 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 2 

♦ 9, 6 

A King, 8, 2 

THE BIDDING 

A "One Nullo" 

Y "One Royal" 
B "Two Nullos" 
Z "No" 

A "No" 

Y "Two Royals" 
B "No" 

Z "No" 

A "Three Nullos" 

Y "Three Royals" 
B "No" 

Z "No" 

A "Four Nullos" 
Closed 

A and B must make at least their contract and 
the game. A must be careful with the diamond suit, 
he must play the king from dummy in the first round 
of the suit and return the 3. 




A 10, 5 

V Queen 

4 Queen, 7, 5, 4, 2 

* Queen, 10, 6, 5, 4 



HOW TO PLAY NULLOS 187 



TEST HAND NO. 4 

An important principle of play is that when a 
trick is inevitable it should be taken as early in the 
play of the hand as possible, and while the hand still 
contains exit cards. Nullo fiascoes are usually due 
to a breach of this rule of play. 



4k Queen, Knave, 10, 9, 

V Knave, 6, 3 

♦ 7, 2 

* 7> 4 



♦ 

* 



Ace, King, * 10 
Ace, 10, 9, 6, 4 
Ace, King, Queen, 
Knave, 3 




4, z 



Ace, King, 6 
9, 8, 7, 4 

King, Knave, 8, 3 
8, 6 



♦ 

* 



8, 7, 5, 3 
Queen, 5, 2 
Queen, 5 
10, 9, 5, z 



THE BIDDING 

A "One Nullo" 

Y "One No-Trump" 
B "Two Nullos" 

Z "Two No-Trumps" 

A "Three Nullos" 

Y "Three No-Trumps" 
B "Four Nullos" 

The declarer cannot be prevented from making 
his contract and the game. In the actual bidding Y 
went to u four no-trumps" and was overcalled with 
"five nullos," the declarer fulfilling his contract. 

COMBINING THE HANDS IN THE BIDDING 

The beginner is advised to play all of these hands 
completely through as they embody several prin- 



1 88 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ciples of play that frequently arise in the manage- 
ment of nullo hands. But he is first advised to 
thoroughly understand the theory of the declara- 
tions. 

Combining the two hands in the bidding against 
a no-trump has now been raised to a fine art. 

When the partner of the declarer raises the nullo 
bid he announces small cards in all the four suits, 
and if the declarer also has four suits protected 
with low cards he is practically assured of three- 
fourths of the small cards in the pack being in his 
favor. When therefore the bid has been raised 
once the fives and sixes become nearly as valuable 
as the low cards were in the first round of the bid- 
ding. 

In the early bidding only low cards can be counted 
as raisers, but as the bidding proceeds the sixes and 
even the sevens have an increased value and may be 
considered as losers, in much the same way as the 
queens and knaves may be reckoned as winners in no- 
trumps when the aces and kings of the same suits 
are held. It is all a question of the hands dovetail- 
ing and just as one looks for high sequences in play- 
ing no-trumps one should look for sequences of low 
cards in playing nullos. 



PART XVII 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 

As Adopted by the Whist Club of New York, No- 
vember, 19 13 

(Reprinted by Special Permission) 

THE RUBBER 

1. The partners first winning two games win the 
rubber. When the first two games decide the rub- 
ber, a third is not played. 

SCORING 

2. Each side has a trick score and a score for all 
other counts, generally known as the honor score. In 
the trick score the only entries made are points for 
tricks won (see Law 3), which count both toward 
the game and in the total of the rubber. 

All other points, including honors, penalties, slam, 
little slam, and undertricks, are recorded in the honor 
score, which counts only in the total of the rubber. 

3. When the declarer wins the number of tricks 
bid or more, each above six counts on the trick score : 
two points when spades are trumps, six when clubs 
are trumps, seven when diamonds are trumps, eight 
when hearts are trumps, nine when royal spades are 
trumps, and ten when the declaration is no-trump. 

4. A game consists of thirty points made by 
tricks alone. Every deal is played out, whether or 

189 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



not during it the game be concluded, and any points 
made (even if in excess of thirty) are counted. 

5. The ace, king, queen, knave, and ten of the 
trump suit are the honors; when no-trump is de- 
clared, the aces are the honors. 

6. Honors are credited to the original holders; 
they are valued as follows: 

WHEN A TRUMP IS DECLARED 

3 1 honors held between partners equal value of 
2 tricks. 

4 honors held between partners equal value of 4 
tricks. 

5 honors held between partners equal value of 5 
tricks. 

4 honors held in 1 hand equal value of 8 tricks. 

4 honors held in 1 hand (5th in partner's hand) 
equal value of 9 tricks. 

5 honors held in 1 hand equal value of 10 tricks. 

WHEN NO-TRUMP IS DECLARED 

3 aces held between partners count 30. 

4 aces held between partners count 40. 
4 aces held in one hand count 100. 

7. Slam is made when partners take thirteen 
tricks. 2 It counts 40 points in the honor score. 

8. Little slam is made when partners take 
twelve tricks. 3 ' It counts 20 points in the honor 
score. 

1 Frequently called "simple honors." 

2 Law 84 prohibits a revoking side from scoring slam, and pro- 
vides that tricks received by the declarer as penalty for a revoke 
shall not entitle him to a slam not otherwise obtained. 

3 Law 84 prohibits a revoking side from scoring little slam, and 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 



9. The value of honors, slam, or little slam, is 
not affected by doubling or redoubling. 

10. At the conclusion of a rubber the trick and 
honor scores of each side are added and 250 addi- 
tional points added to the score of the winners of 
the rubber. The size of the rubber is the differ- 
ence between the completed scores. If the score 
of the losers of the rubber exceed that of the win- 
ners, the losers win the amount of the excess. 

11. When a rubber is started with the agree- 
ment that the play shall terminate (i. e., no new 
deal shall commence) at a specified time, and the 
rubber is unfinished at that hour, the score is made 
up as it stands, 125 being added to the score of the 
winners of a game. A deal if started must be 
finished. 

12. A proved error in the honor score may be 
corrected at any time before the score of the rub- 
ber has been made up and agreed upon. 

13. A proved error in the trick score may be 
corrected at any time before a declaration has been 
made in the following game, or, if it occur in the 
final game of the rubber, before the score has been 
made up and agreed upon. 

CUTTING 

14. In cutting the ace is the lowest card; be- 
tween cards of otherwise equal value the heart is 
the lowest, the diamond next, the club next, and 
spade the highest. 

provides that tricks received by the declarer as penalty for a revoke 
shall not entitle him to a little slam not otherwise obtained. If 
a declarer bid 7 and take 12 tricks he counts 20 for little slam, 
although his declaration fails. 



192 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



15. Every player must cut from the same pack. 

16. Should a player expose more than one card, 
the highest is his cut. 

FORMING TABLES 

17. Those first in the room have the prior right 
to play. Candidates of equal standing decide their 
order by cutting; those who cut lowest play first. 

18. Six players constitute a complete table. 

19. After the table has been formed, the play- 
ers cut to decide upon partners, the two lower play 
against the two higher. The lowest is the dealer, 
w T ho has choice of cards and seats, and, having 
made his selection, must abide by it. 4 

20. The right to succeed players as they retire 
is acquired by announcing the desire to do so, and 
such announcements, in the order made, entitle 
candidates to fill vacancies as they occur. 

CUTTING OUT 

21. If, at the end of a rubber, admission be 
claimed by one or two candidates, the player or 
players who have played the greatest number of 
consecutive rubbers withdraw; when all have played 
the same number, they cut to decide upon the out- 
goers; the highest are out. 5 

RIGHT OF ENTRY 

22. At the end of a rubber a candidate is not 
entitled to enter a table unless he declare his in- 
tention before any player cut, either for partners, 
for a new rubber, or for cutting out. 

4 He may consult his partner before making his decision. 

5 See Law 14 as to the value of cards in cutting. 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 



i93 



23. In the formation of the new tables candi- 
dates who have not played at an existing table have 
the prior right of entry. Others decide their right 
to admission by cutting. 

24. When one or more players belonging to 
an existing table aid in making up a new one, which 
cannot be formed without him or them, he or they 
shall be the last to cut out. 

25. A player belonging to one table who enters 
another, or announces a desire to do so, forfeits his 
rights at his original table, unless the new table 
cannot be formed without him, in which case he 
may retain his position at his original table by an- 
nouncing his intention to return as soon as his place 
at the new table can be filled. 

26. Should a player leave a table during the 
progress of a rubber, he may, with the consent of 
the three others, appoint a substitute to play dur- 
ing his absence; but such appointment becomes void 
upon the conclusion of the rubber, and does not in 
any way affect the rights of the substitute. 

27. If a player break up a table, the others 
have a prior right of entry elsewhere. 

SHUFFLING 

28. The pack must not be shuffled below the 
table nor so the face of any card be seen. 

29. The dealer's partner must collect the cards 
from the preceding deal and has the right to shuffle 
first. Each player has the right to shuffle subse- 
quently. The dealer has the right to shuffle last, 
but should a card or cards be seen during his shuff- 
ling or w r hile giving the pack to be cut, he must 
reshuffle. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



30. After shuffling, the cards, properly col- 
lected, must be placed face downward to the left 
of the next dealer, where they must remain un- 
touched until the end of the current deal. 

THE DEAL 

31. Players deal in turn; the order of dealing 
is to the left. 

32. Immediately before the deal, the player 
on the dealer's right cuts, so that each packet con- 
tains at least four cards. If, in or after cutting, and 
prior to the beginning of the deal a card be ex- 
posed, or if any doubt exist as to the place of the 
cut, the dealer must reshuffle and the same player 
must cut again. 

33. After the pack has been properly cut, it 
should not be reshuffled or recut except as provided 
in Law 32. 

34. Should the dealer shuffle after the cut, his 
adversaries may also shuffle and the pack must be 
cut again. 

35. The fifty-two cards must be dealt face 
downward. The deal is completed when the last 
card is dealt. 

36. In the event of a misdeal the same pack 
must be dealt again by the same player. 

A NEW DEAL 

37. There must be a new deal: 

(a) If the cards be not dealt, beginning 
at the dealer's left into four packets 
one at a time and in regular rotation. 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 



195 



(b) If, during a deal, or during the play, 
the pack be proved incorrect. 

(c) If, during a deal, any card be faced 
in the pack or exposed, on, above, or 
below the table. 

(d) If more than thirteen cards be dealt 
to any player. 6 

(e) If the last card does not come in its 
regular order to the dealer. 

(/) If the dealer omit having the pack 
cut, deal out of turn or with the ad- 
versaries' cards, and either adversary 
call attention to the fact before the 
end of the deal and before looking 
at any of his cards. 

38. Should a correction of any offense men- 
tioned in 37 / not be made in time, or should an 
adversary who has looked at any of his cards be 
the first to call attention to the error, the deal 
stands, and the game proceeds as if the deal had 
been correct, the player to the left dealing the 
next. When the deal has been with the wrong 
cards, the next dealer may take whichever pack he 
prefers. 

39. If, prior to the cut for the following deal, 
a pack be proved incorrect, the deal is void, but all 
prior scores stand. 7 

The pack is not incorrect when a missing card 
or cards are found in the other pack, among the 
quitted tricks, below the table, or in any other place 

6 This error, whenever discovered, renders a new deal necessary. 

7 A correct pack contains exactly fifty-two cards, one of each 
denomination. 



196 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



which makes it possible that such card or cards were 
part of the pack during the deal. 

40. Should three players have their proper num- 
ber of cards, the fourth, less, the missing card or 
cards, if found, belong to him, and he, unless 
dummy, is answerable for any established revoke 
or revokes he may have made just as if the missing 
card or cards had been continuously in his hand. 
When a card is missing, any player may search the 
other pack, the quitted tricks, or elsewhere for it. 

If before, during, or at the conclusion of the play, 
one player hold more than the proper number of 
cards, and another less, the deal is void. 

41 . A player may not cut, shuffle, or deal for 
his partner if either adversary object. 

THE DECLARATION 

42. The dealer, having examined his hand, must 
declare to win at least one odd trick, s either with 
a specified suit, or at no-trump. 

43. After the dealer has declared, each player 
in turn, beginning on the dealer's left, must pass, 
make a higher declaration, double the last declara- 
tion, or redouble a declaration which has been 
doubled, subject to the provisions of Law 54. 

44. A declaration of a greater number of 
tricks in a suit of lower value, which equals the 
last declaration in value of points, is a higher dec- 
laration: e. g., a declaration of "three spades'' is 
higher than kk one club/' 

45. A player in his turn may overbid the pre- 
vious adverse declaration anv number of times, and 



s One trick more than six. 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 



197 



may also overbid his partner, but he cannot over- 
bid his own declaration which has been passed by 
the three others. 

46. The player who makes the final declara- 
tion 9 must play the combined hands, his partner 
becoming dummy, unless the suit or no-trump finally 
declared was bid by the partner before it was 
called by the final declarer, in w T hich case the part- 
ner, no matter what bids have intervened, must play 
the combined hands. 

47. When the player of the two hands (herein- 
after termed u the declarer") wins at least as many 
tricks as he declared, he scores the full value of the 
tricks won (see Law 3). 10 

47a. When the declarer fails to win as many 
tricks as he declares, neither he nor his adversaries 
score anything toward the game, but his adversaries 
score in their honor column 50 points for each 
undertrick (i. e., each trick short of the number de- 
clared) . If the declaration be doubled, the adver- 
saries score 100 points; if redoubled, 200 points for 
each undertrick. 

48. The loss on the dealer's original declara- 
tion of u one spade" is limited to 100 points, whether 
doubled or not, unless redoubled. Honors are 
scored as held. 

49. If a player make a declaration (other than 
passing) out of turn, either adversary may demand 
a new deal, or may allow such declaration to stand, 
in which case the bidding shall continue as if the 
declaration had been in turn. 

9 A declaration becomes final when it has been passed by three 
players. 

10 For amount scored by declarer, if doubled, see Laws 53 and 56. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



If a player pass out of turn, the order of the 
bidding is not affected, i. e., it is still the turn of the 
player to the left of the last declarer. The player 
who has passed out of turn may re-enter the bid- 
ding in his proper turn if the declaration he has 
passed be overbid or doubled. 

50. If a player make an insufficient or impos- 
sible declaration, either adversary may demand that 
it be penalized. The penalty for an insufficient dec- 
laration is that the bid is made sufficient in the 
declaration named and the partner of the declarer 
may not further declare unless an adversary subse- 
quently bid or double. The penalty for an impos- 
sible declaration is that the bid is made seven in the 
suit named and the partner of the declarer may not 
further declare unless an adversary subsequently 
bid or double. Either adversary, instead of penal- 
izing an impossible declaration, may demand a new 
deal, or that the last declaration made on behalf 
of his partnership become the final declaration. 

50a. If a player who has been debarred from 
bidding under Laws 50 or 65, during the period of 
such prohibition, make any declaration (other than 
passing), either adversary may decide w T hether such 
declaration stand, and neither the offending player 
nor his partner may further participate in the bid- 
ding even if the adversaries double or declare. 

50b. A penalty for a declaration out of turn 
(see Law 49), an insufficient or impossible dec- 
laration (see Law 50), or a bid when prohibited 
(see Law 50a) may not be enforced if either ad- 
versary pass, double, or declare before the penalty 
be demanded. 11 

11 When the penalty for an insufficient declaration is not de- 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 



50c. Laws which give to either adversary the 
right to enforce a penalty, do not permit unlimited 
consultation. Either adversary may call attention 
to the offense and select the penalty, or may say, 
"Partner, you determine the penalty," or words to 
that effect. Any other consultation is prohibited, 12 
and if it take place, the right to demand any penalty 
is lost. The first decision made by either adversary 
is final and cannot be altered. 

51. At any time during the declaration, a ques- 
tion asked by a player concerning any previous bid 
must be answered, but, after the final declaration 
has been accepted, if an adversary of the declarer 
inform his partner regarding any previous declara- 
tion, the declarer may call a lead from the adversary 
whose next turn it is to lead. If the dummy give 
such information to the declarer, either adversary 
of the declarer may call a lead. A player, however, 
at any time may ask what declaration is being played 
and the question must be answered. 

52. A declaration legitimately made cannot be 
changed after the next player pass, declare, or 
double. Prior to such action a declaration inadvert- 
ently made may be corrected. If, prior to such cor- 
rection, an adversary call attention to an insufficient 
or impossible declaration, it may not thereafter be 
corrected nor may the penalty be avoided. 

DOUBLING AND REDOUBLING 

53. Doubling and redoubling doubles and quad- 
ruples the value of each trick over six, but it does 

manded, the bid over which it was made may be repeated unless 
some higher bid has intervened. 

12 The question, "Partner, will you select the penalty, or shall 
I?" is a form of consultation which is not permitted. 



200 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



not alter the value of a declaration; e. g., a declara- 
tion of u three clubs" is higher than "two royal 
spades" doubled or redoubled. 

54. Any declaration may be doubled and re- 
doubled once, but not more; a player may not 
double his partner's declaration nor redouble his 
partner's double, but he may redouble a declara- 
tion of his partner which has been doubled by an 
adversary. 

The penalty for redoubling more than once is 
100 points in the adverse honor score or a new deal; 
for doubling a partner's declaration, or redoubling 
a partner's double it is 50 points in the adverse honor 
score. Either adversary may demand any penalty 
enforceable under this law. 

55. Doubling or redoubling reopens the bid- 
ding. When a declaration has been doubled or 
redoubled, any one of the three succeeding players, 
including the player whose declaration has been 
doubled, may, in his proper turn, make a further 
declaration of higher value. 

56. When a player whose declaration has been 
doubled wins the declared number of tricks, he 
scores a bonus of 50 points in his honor score, and 
a further 50 points for each additional trick. When 
he or his partner has redoubled, he scores 100 points 
for making the contract and an additional 100 for 
each extra trick. 

57. A double or redouble is a declaration, and 
a player who doubles or redoubles out of turn is 
subject to the penalty provided by Law 49. 

58. After the final declaration has been ac- 
cepted, the play begins; the olayer on the left of 
the declarer leads. 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 



20 1 



DUMMY 

59. As soon as the player on the left of the de- 
clarer leads, the declarer's partner places his cards 
face upward on the table, and the declarer plays the 
cards from that hand. 

60. The partner of the declarer has all the 
rights of a player (including the right to call atten- 
tion to a lead from the wrong hand) , until his cards 
are placed face upward on the table. 13 He then 
becomes the dummy, and takes no part whatever in 
the play, except that he has the right: 

(a) To call the declarer's attention to the fact 

that too many or too few cards have been 
played to a trick; 

(b) to correct an improper claim of either 

adversary; 

(c) to call attention to a trick erroneously taken 

by either side; 

(d) to participate in the discussion of any dis- 

puted question of fact after it has arisen 
between the declarer and either adver- 
sary; 

(e) to correct any erroneous score; 

(/) to consult with and advise the declarer as 
to which penalty to exact for a revoke; 

(g) to ask the declarer whether he have any 
of a suit he has renounced. 

The dummy, if he have not intentionally looked 
at any card in the hand of a player, has also the 
following additional rights: 

13 The penalty is determined by the declarer (see Law 66). 



202 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Dummy — Continued) 

(h) To call the attention of the declarer to an 

established adverse revoke; 

(i) to call the attention of the declarer to a card 

exposed by an adversary or to an ad- 
verse lead out of turn. 

6 1. Should the dummy call attention to any 
other incident in the play in consequence of which 
any penalty might have been exacted, the declarer 
may not exact such penalty. Should the dummy 
avail himself of rights (h) or (/), after intention- 
ally looking at a card in the hand of a player, the 
declarer may not exact any penalty for the offense 
in question. 

62. If the dummy, by touching a card or other- 
wise, suggest the play of one of his cards, either 
adversary may require the declarer to play or not 
to play such card. 

62a. If the dummy call to the attention of the 
declarer that he is about to lead from the wrong 
hand, either adversary may require that the lead 
be made from that hand. 

63. Dummy is not subject to the revoke of pen- 
alty; if he revoke and the error be not discovered 
until the trick be turned and quitted, whether by 
the rightful winners or not, the trick must stand. 

64. A card from the declarer's hand is not 
played until actually quitted, but should he name or 
touch a card in the dummy, such card is played 
unless he say, "I arrange," or words to that effect. 
If he simultaneously touch two or more such cards, 
he may elect which to play. 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 



CARDS EXPOSED BEFORE PLAY 

65. After the deal and before the declaration 
has been finally determined, if any player lead or 
expose a card, his partner may not thereafter bid 
or double during that declaration, 14 and the card is 
subject to call. 15 When the partner of the offend- 
ing player is the original leader, the declarer may 
also prohibit the initial lead of the suit of the ex- 
posed card. 

66. After the final declaration has been accepted 
and before the lead, if the partner of the proper 
leader expose or lead a card, the declarer may treat 
it as exposed or may call a suit from the proper 
leader. A card exposed by the leader, after the 
final declaration and before the lead, is subject to 
call. 

CARDS EXPOSED DURING PLAY 

67. After the original lead, all cards exposed 
by the declarer's adversaries are liable to be called 
and must be left face upward on the table. 

68. The following are exposed cards: 

(1) Two or more cards played simultaneously; 

(2) a card dropped face upward on the table, 

even though snatched up so quickly that 
it cannot be named; 

(3) a card so held by a player that his partner 

sees any portion of its face; 

(4) a card mentioned by either adversary as 

being held in his or his partner's hand. 



See Law 50a. 

If more than one card be exposed, all may be called. 



20 4 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



69. A card dropped on the floor or elsewhere 
below the table, or so held that it is seen by an ad- 
versary but not by the partner, is not an exposed 
card. 

70. Two or more cards played simultaneously 
by either of the declarer's adversaries give the de- 
clarer the right to call any one of such cards to the 
current trick and to treat the other card or cards 
as exposed. 

70a. Should an adversary of the declarer expose 
his last card before his partner play to the twelfth 
trick, the two cards in his partner's hand become 
exposed, must be laid face upward on the table, and 
are subject to call. 

71. If, without waiting for his partner to play, 
either of the declarer's adversaries play or lead a 
winning card, as against the declarer and dummy 
and continue (without waiting for his partner to 
play) to lead several such cards, the declarer may 
demand that the partner of the player in fault win, 
if he can, the first or any other of these tricks. The 
other cards thus improperly played are exposed. 

72. If either or both of the declarer's adver- 
saries throw his or their cards face upward on the 
table, such cards are exposed and liable to be called; 
but if either adversary retain his hand, he cannot be 
forced to abandon it. Cards exposed by the de- 
clarer are not liable to be called. If the declarer 
say, "I have the rest," or any words indicating the 
remaining tricks or any number thereof are his, he 
may be required to place his cards face upward on 
the table. He is not then allowed to call any cards 
his adversaries may have exposed, nor to take any 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 



205 



finesse not previously proved a winner unless he 
announce it when making his claim. 

73. If a player who has rendered himself liable 
to have the highest or lowest of a suit called (Laws 
80, 86, and 92) fail to play as directed, or if, when 
called on to lead one suit, he lead another, having 
in his hand one or more cards of the suit demanded 
(Laws 66, 76, and 93), or if, when called upon to 
win or lose a trick, he fail to do so when he can 
(Laws 71, 80, and 92), or if, when called upon not 
to play a suit, he fail to play as directed (Laws 65 
and 66), he is liable to the penalty for revoke (Law 
84) unless such play be corrected before the trick 
be turned and quitted. 

74. A player cannot be compelled to play a 
card which would oblige him to revoke. 

75. The call of an exposed card may be repeated 
until it be played. 

LEADS OUT OF TURN 

76. If either adversary of the declarer's lead 
out of turn, the declarer may either treat the card 
so led as exposed or may call a suit as soon as it 
is the turn of either adversary to lead. Should 
they lead simultaneously, the lead from the proper 
hand stands, and the other card is exposed. 

77. If the declarer lead out of turn, either from 
his own hand or dummy, he incurs no penalty, but 
he may not rectify the error unless directed to do 
so by an adversary. 16 If the second hand play, the 
lead is accepted. 

16 The rule in Law 50c as to consultations governs the right of . 
adversaries to consult as to whether such direction be given. 



2o6 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



78. If an adversary of the declarer lead out of 
turn, and the declarer follow either from his own 
hand or dummy, the trick stands. If the declarer 
before playing refuse to accept the lead, the leader 
may be penalized as provided in Law 76. 

79. If a player called on to lead a suit have none 
of it, the penalty is paid. 

CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR 

80. Should the fourth hand, not being dummy 
or declarer, play before the second, the latter may 
be required to play his highest or lowest card of 
the suit led, or to win or lose the trick. In such 
case, if the second hand be void of the suit led, the 
declarer in lieu of any other penalty may call upon 
the second hand to play the highest card of any 
designated suit. If he name a suit of which the 
second hand is void, the penalty is paid. 17 

81. If any one, except dummy, omit playing to 
a trick, and such error be not corrected until he has 
played to the next, the adversaries or either of them 
may claim a new deal; should either decide that the 
deal stand, the surplus card (at the end of the hand) 
is considered played to the imperfect trick, but does 
not constitute a revoke therein. 18 

82. When any one, except dummy, plays two or 
more cards to the same trick and the mistake is not 
corrected, he is answerable for any consequent re- 
vokes he may make. When the error is detected 
during the play, the tricks may be counted face 
downward, to see if any contain more than four 

17 Should the declarer play third hand before the second hand, 
the fourth hand may without penalty play before his partner. 

18 As to the right of adversaries to consult, see Law 50c. 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 



207 



cards; should this be the case, the trick which con- 
tains a surplus card or cards may be examined and 
such card or cards restored to the original holder. 19 

THE REVOKE 20 

83. A revoke occurs when a player, other than 
dummy, holding one or more cards of the suit led, 
plays a card of a different suit. It becomes an estab- 
lished revoke when the trick in which it occurs is 
turned and quitted by the rightful winners (i. e., the 
hand removed from the trick after it has been turned 
face downward on the table), or when either the 
revoking player or his partner, whether in turn or 
otherwise, leads or plays to the following trick. 

84. The penalty for each established revoke is: 

(a) When the declarer revokes, he cannot score 

for tricks and his adversaries add 100 
points to their score in the honor column, 
in addition to any penalty which he may 
have incurred for not making good his 
declaration. 

(b) When either of the adversaries revokes, 

the declarer may either add 100 points 
to his score in the honor column or take 
three tricks from his opponents and add 
them to his own. 21 Such tricks may as- 
sist the declarer to make good his dec- 
laration, but shall not entitle him to score 
any bonus in the honor column in case 
the declaration has been doubled or re- 

19 Either adversary may decide which card shall be considered 
played to the trick which contains more than four cards. 

20 See Law 73. 

21 The dummy may advise the declarer which penalty to exact. 



208 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(The Revoke — Continued) 

doubled, nor to a slam or little slam not 
otherwise obtained. 22 
(c) When, during the play of a deal, more than 
one revoke is made by the same side, the 
penalty for each revoke after the first is 
100 points. 

The value of their honors is the only score that 
can be made by a revoking side. 

85. A player may ask his partner if he have a 
card of the suit which he has renounced; should 
the question be asked before the trick be turned 
and quitted, subsequent turning and quitting does 
not establish a revoke, and the error may be cor- 
rected unless the question be answered in the nega- 
tive, or unless the revoking player or his partner 
have led or played to the following trick. 

86. If a player correct his mistake in time to 
save a revoke, any player or players who have 
followed him may withdraw his or their cards and 
substitute others, and the cards so withdrawn are 
not exposed. If the player in fault be one of the 
declarer's adversaries, the card played in error is 
exposed, and the declarer may call it whenever he 
pleases, or he may require the offender to play his 
highest or lowest card of the suit to the. trick, but 
this penalty cannot be exacted from the declarer. 

87. At the end of the play the claimants of a 
revoke may search all the tricks. If the cards have 
been mixed, the claim may be urged and proved if 
possible; but no proof is necessary and the claim 
is established if, after it is made, the accused player 

22 The value of the three tricks, doubled or redoubled, as the 
case may be, is counted in the trick score. 



THE LAWS OF AUCTION 



209 



or his partner mix the cards before they have been 
sufficiently examined by the adversaries. 

88. A revoke cannot be claimed after the cards 
have been cut for the following deal. 

89. Should both sides revoke, the only score 
permitted is for honors. In such case, if one side 
revoke more than once, the penalty of 100 points 
for each extra revoke is scored by the other side. 

GENERAL RULES 

90. A trick turned and quitted may not be 
looked at (except under Law 82) until the end of 
the play. The penalty for the violation of this 
law is 25 points in the adverse honor score. 

91. Any player during the play of a trick or 
after the four cards are played, and before the 
trick is turned and quitted, may demand that the 
cards be placed before their respective players. 

92. When an adversary of the declarer, before 
his partner plays, calls attention to the trick, either 
by saying it is his, or, without being requested to 
do so, by naming his card or drawing it toward 
him, the declarer may require such partner to play 
his highest or lowest card of the suit led, or to win 
or lose the trick. 

* 93. An adversary of the declarer may call his 
partner's attention to the fact that he is about to 
play or lead out of turn; but if, during the play, 
he make any unauthorized reference to any incident 
of the play, the declarer may call a suit from the 
adversary whose next turn it is to lead. 

94. In all cases where a penalty has been in- 
curred, the offender is bound to give reasonable 
time for the decision of his adversaries. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



NEW CARDS 

95. Unless a pack be imperfect, no player has 
the right to call for one new pack. When fresh 
cards are demanded, two packs must be furnisjied. 
When they are produced during a rubber, the adver- 
saries of the player demanding them have the choice 
of the new cards. If it be the beginning of a new 
rubber, the dealer, whether he or one of his adver- 
saries call for the new cards, has the choice. New 
cards cannot be substituted after the pack has been 
cut for a new deal. 

96. A card or cards torn or marked must be 
replaced by agreement or new cards furnished. 

BYSTANDERS 

97. While a bystander, by agreement among 
the players, may decide any question, he should 
not say anything unless appealed to; and if he 
make any remark which calls attention to an over- 
sight affecting the score, or to the exaction of a pen- 
alty, he is liable to be called upon by the players 
to pay the stakes (not extras) lost. 



PART XVIII 



ETIQUETTE OF AUCTION 

In the game of Auction slight intimations convey 
much information. The code succinctly states laws 
which fix penalties for an offense. To offend 
against etiquette is far more serious than to offend 
against a law; for in the latter case the offender 
is subject to the prescribed penalties; in the for- 
mer his adversaries are without redress. 

1. Declarations should be made in a simple 
manner, thus: u one heart," u one no-trump," "pass," 
"double"; they should be made orally and not by 
gesture. 

2. Aside from his legitimate declaration, a 
player should not show by word or gesture the na- 
ture of his hand, or his pleasure or displeasure at 
a play, bid, or double. 

3. If a player demand that the cards be placed, 
he should do so for his own information and not 
to call his partner's attention to any card or play. 

4. An opponent of the declarer should not lead 
until the preceding trick has been turned and quitted; 
nor, after having led a winning card, should he 
draw another from his hand before his partner has 
played to the current trick. 

5. A card should not be played with such em- 
phasis as to draw attention to it, nor should a player 
detach one card from his hand and subsequently 
play another. 

211 



212 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



6. A player should not purposely incur a penalty 
because he is willing to pay it, nor should he make 
a second revoke to conceal a first. 

7. Conversation during the play should be 
avoided, as it may annoy players at the table or at 
other tables in the room. 

8. The dummy should not leave his seat to watch 
his partner play. He should not call attention to the 
score nor to any card or cards that he or the other 
players hold. 

9. If a player say, U I have the rest," or any 
words indicating that the remaining tricks, or any 
number thereof, are his, and one or both of the 
other players expose his or their cards, or request 
him to play out the hand, he should not allow any 
information so obtained to influence his play. 

10. If a player concede, in error, one or more 
tricks, the concession should stand. 

11. A player having been cut out of one table 
should not seek admission in another unless willing 
to cut for the privilege of entry. 

12. A player should not look at any of his 
cards until the end of the deal. 



PART XIX 



THE LAWS OF THREE-HANDED 
AUCTION 

The Laws of Auction govern the three-handed 
game except as follows : 

( 1 ) Three players take part in a game and four 
constitute a complete table. Each plays for him- 
self; there are no partners, except as provided in 
Law 7. 

(2) The player who cuts lowest selects his seat 
and the cards with which he deals first. The player 
who cuts next lowest sits on the dealer's left. 

(3) The cards are dealt in four packets, one 
for each of the three players and one for the 
dummy. 1 The dummy hand is not touched until 
after the final declaration has been made. 

(4) The dealer declares, and the bidding con- 
tinues as in Auction, except that each player bids 
exclusively on his own account. 

(5) The penalty for a declaration out of turn 
is that each of the other players receives 50 points 
in his honor score. A declaration out of turn does 
not affect the right of the player whose turn it is to 
declare, unless both he and the other player, either 
by passing or declaring, accept the improper 
declaration. 

(6) If a player declare out of turn, and the 

1 This hand is generally dealt opposite to the dealer. 

213 



2i 4 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



succeeding player either pass or declare, the third 
player may demand that the mistake be corrected 
as is provided in Law 5. In such case the player 
who first declared out of turn is the only one 
penalized. 

(7) The player making the final declaration, 
i. e., a declaration that has been passed by both of 
the others, plays his own hand and that of the 
dummy against the two others, who then, and for 
that particular hand, assume the relationship of 
partners. 

(8) It is advisable that the game be played 
at a round table so that the hand of the dummy 
can be placed in front of the declarer without 
obliging any player to move; but, in the event of a 
square table being used, the two players who be- 
come the adversaries of the declarer should sit 
opposite each other, the dummy being opposite the 
declarer. At the end of the play the original posi- 
tions should be resumed. 

(9) If, after the deal has been completed and 
before the conclusion of the declaration, any player 
expose a card, each of his adversaries counts 50 
points in his honor score, and the declarer, if he be 
not the offender, may call upon the player on his 
left to lead or not to lead the suit of the exposed 
card. If a card be exposed by the declarer after 
the final declaration, there is no penalty, but if ex- 
posed by an adversary of the declarer, it is sub- 
ject to the same penalty as in Auction. 

(10) If a player double out of turn, each of 
his adversaries counts 100 points in his respective 
honor score, and the player whose declaration has 
been doubled may elect whether the double shall 



LAWS OF THREE-HANDED AUCTION 215 



stand. The bidding is then resumed, but if the 
double shall be disallowed, the declaration may not 
be doubled by the other player. 

(11) The rubber continues until two games 
have been won by the same player; it may con- 
sist of two, three, or four games. 

(12) When the declarer fulfils his contract, 
he scores as in Auction. When he fails to do so, 
both of his adversaries score as in Auction. 

(13) Honors are scored by each player sep- 
arately, i. e., each player who holds one honor scores 
the value of a trick; each player who holds two 
honors scores twice the value of a trick; a player 
who holds three honors scores three times the value 
of a trick; a player who holds four honors scores 
eight times the value of a trick; and a player who 
holds five honors scores ten times the value of a 
trick. In a no-trump declaration, each ace counts 
ten, and four held by one player count 100. The 
declarer counts separately both his own honors and 
those held by the dummy. 

(14) A player scores 125 points for winning 
a game, a further 125 points for winning a second 
game, and 250 points for winning a rubber. 

(15) At the end of the rubber, all scores of 
each player are added and his total obtained. Each 
one wins from or loses to each other the differ- 
ence between their respective totals. A player may 
win from both the others, lose to one and win from 
the other, or lose to both. 



PART XX 



THE LAWS OF DUPLICATE AUCTION 

Duplicate Auction is governed by the Laws of 
Auction, except in so far as they are modified by 
the following special laws : 

A. Scoring. In Duplicate Auction there are 
neither games nor rubbers. Each deal is scored 
just as in Auction, with the addition that whenever 
a pair makes 30 or more for tricks as the score of 
one deal, it adds as a premium 125 points in its 
honor column. 

B. Irregularities in the Hands. If a player 
have either more or less than his correct number 
of cards, the course to be pursued is determined by 
the time of the discovery of the irregularity. 

( 1 ) When the irregularity is discovered 

before or during the original play: 
There must be a new deal. 

(2) When the irregularity is discovered 

at the time the cards are taken up 
for overplay and before such over- 
play has begun : It must be sent back 
to the table from which it came, and 
the error be there rectified. 

(3) When the irregularity is not discov- 

ered until after the overplay has 
begun: In two-table duplicate there 
must be a new deal; but in a game 
217 



2l8 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



in which the same deals are played 
at more than two tables, the hands 
must be rectified as is provided 
above and then passed to the next 
table without overplay at the table 
at which the error was discovered; 
in which case, if a player have less 
than thirteen cards and his adver- 
sary the corresponding surplus, 
each player takes the average score 
for that deal; if, however, his part- 
ner have the corresponding surplus, 
his pair is given the lowest score 
and his opponents the highest score 
made at any table for that deal. 

C. Playing the cards. Each player, when it is 
his turn to play, must place his card, face upward, 
before him and toward the center of the table. He 
must allow it to remain upon the table in this posi- 
tion until all have played to the trick, when he 
must turn it over and place it face downward, nearer 
to himself; if he or his partner have won the trick, 
the card should point toward his partner and 
himself; otherwise it should point toward the 
adversaries. 

The declarer may either play dummy's cards or 
may call them by name whenever it is dummy's turn 
to play and have dummy play them for him. 

A trick is turned and quitted when all four play- 
ers have turned and ceased to touch their respective 
cards. 

The cards must be left in the order in which they 
were played until the scores of the deal have been 
recorded. 



LAWS OF DUPLICATE AUCTION 



219 



D. The Revoke. A revoke may be claimed at 
any time before the last trick of the deal in which it 
occurs has been turned and quitted and the scores 
of that deal agreed upon and recorded, but not 
thereafter. 

E. Error in Score. A proven error in the trick 
or honor score may be corrected at any time before 
the final score of the contestants for the deal or 
deals played before changing opponents, has been 
made up and agreed upon. 

F. A New Deal. A new deal is not allowed 
for any reason, except as provided in Laws of 
Auction 36 and 37. If there be an impossible dec- 
laration some other penalty must be selected. 1 A 
declaration (other than passing) out of turn must 
stand; 2 as a penalty, the adversaries score 50 honor 
points in their honor column and the partner of the 
offending player cannot thereafter participate in 
the bidding of that deal. 

The penalty for the offense mentioned in Law 81 
is 50 points in the adverse honor score. 

G. Team Matches. A match consists of any 
agreed number of deals, each of which is played 
once at each table. 

The contesting teams must be of equal size, but 
each may consist of any agreed number of pairs 
(not less than two). One half of each team, or as 
near thereto as possible, sits north and south; the 
other half east and west. 

In case the teams are composed of an odd num- 
ber of pairs, each team, in making up its total score, 
adds, as though won by it, the average score of all 

1 See Law 50. The same ruling applies to Law 54. 

2 Thi9 includes a double or redouble out of turn. See Law 57. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



pairs seated in the positions opposite to its odd 
pair. 

In making up averages, fractions are disregarded 
and the nearest whole numbers taken, unless it be 
necessary to take the fraction into account to avoid 
a tie, in which case the match is won u by the frac- 
tion of a point." The team making the higher 
score wins the match. 

H. Pair Contests. The score of a pair is com- 
pared only with other pairs who have played the 
same hands. A pair obtains a plus score for the 
contest when its net total is more than the average; 
a minus score for the contest when its net total is 
less than the average. 



PART XXI 
ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 

In the illustrative hands that follow A — B are 
partners against Y — Z thus : 





B 


Y 


Z 




A Dealer 



A is always the dealer. 

When the score is not mentioned it is assumed 
to be love all. 

The arrow shows the direction of the lead. 

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. i 

SCORE A B, I 2 ; Y Z, O. 

A 9, 7> *, 5 

V Queen, Knave, 7, 6 

♦ 7, 5 

* 6, 4, 2 

4k 4, 3 I I A Ace, Queen, Knave, 

V King, 8, 2 B 10, 2 

+ Queen, 9, 6, 4, 2 Y Z * IO > 9, 5, 3 

A Ace, 9, 8 A ♦ King, 10, 8 

1 * 7 

A King, 8 

V Ace, 4 

4 Ace, Knave, 3 

4* King, Queen, Knave, 10, 5, 3 



221 



ROYAL AUCTION" BRIDGE 



(Illustrative Hand Xo. I — Continue J J 

THE BIDDING 
A "One Club" ] 

J k ' NV ' [ First Round 

B "No" 

Z "One Royal*' ^ 

A "Two Clubs" ] 

Y " No " f- Second Round 

B "Xo" 



Z "Two Rovals 



J 



A "Three Clubs" )- Third Round 
Closed 



Trick 
B 



Trick 2 
B 



z 



A 



A 



can now see seven tricks in his own hand. How 
should he play to make the extra trick required to 
fulfil his contract and to make the game? The pos- 
sibilities of the hand he entirely in the heart suit 
and in the trump suit. It is a position that fre- 
quently occurs, and the correct play is to ignore the 
hearts and to utilize one of dummy's little trumps 
before the opponents draw them. 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



223 



(Illustrative Hand No. I — Continued) 



Trick J 
B 



o o 



o o 




























0*0 



Trick 4. 
B 



<> o 
o o 
















00 




o o 



















A 





Trick 5 
B 



A 



4. 4. 
4. 4. 



Trick 6 
B 



* 4. 
4. 4. 



4. 4. 

4.^4. 
4. 4. 




















A 





A now leads a diamond for dummy to ruff and 
so makes the extra trick he needed to fulfil his con- 
tract and to win the game. 



224 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 2 

SCORE A B 10, Y Z 10, IN THE RUBBER GAME 

A 3, 2 

¥ 9, 8, 7, 4, 

♦ 8 

•fr Ace, King, Queen, 6, 4, 3 



4k Ace, Knave, 9 
¥ Ace 

$ Ace, Knave, 9, 6, 

4, 3, 2 
ifi Knave, 10 

¥ 
♦ 



B 

Y Z 
A 



4k King, Queen, 8, 7, 
6, 5, + 

V 3 

4 Queen, 7 
* 9, 8, 5 



10 

King, Queen, Knave, 10, 6, 5, 2 
King, 10, 5 
7, 2 



THE BIDDING 

A "Three Hearts" 

Y "No" 

B "No" 

Z "No" 



COMMENTS ON THE BIDDING 

This hand illustrates the value of a pre-emptive 
bid in the rubber game. Many players in Y's posi- 
tion would be tempted to overcall the hand by de- 
claring "four diamonds" but Y feels that the game 
is fairly safe in hearts. It is an axiom of Royal 
Auction that a player should not undertake a risky 
contract when an opportunity is afforded him of 
sitting tight and defeating an adverse contract. 

If the pre-emptive bid had not been made Y-Z 
cannot be prevented from getting the contract and 
making a small slam in royals, as the king of hearts 
would be the opening lead from A. If the final 
trump were diamonds Y-Z make five by cards. 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



(Illustrative Hand No. 2 — Continued) 

By capturing the contract A-B make ten tricks 
game and rubber. 

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 3 

4k Ace, 6, 5 

V King, Queen, Knave, 7, 4, 3 

♦ 4 

Ace, Queen, 6 



* 9, 3, ^ 

V 10, 9, 8, 6, 5 

♦ Ace, 9, 8, 2 
«?• 10 




4k Knave, 10 

V 2 

♦ King, Queen, 

Knave, 10, 7, 5, 3 
•¥1 King, Knave, 4 



4k King, Queen, 8, 7, 4 

V Ace 

♦ 6 

* 9, 8, 7, 5, 3, 2 



THE BIDDING 



A "One Royal" 

Y "No" 

B "No" 

Z "Two Diamonds" 



First Round 



A "No" 

Y "No" 

B "Two Royals" 

Z "Three Diamonds" 



Second Round 



A "No" 

Y "No" 

B "Three Royals" 

Z "No" 



Third Round 



A "No" 

Y "Four Diamonds" 
B "Four Royals" 
Closed 



- Fourth Round 



226 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Illustrative Hand No. 3 — Continued) 

Trick 1 
B 





* 




*** 

4.?+ 
*** 




* * 



A 

A plays the ace of clubs from dummy and then a 
small trump. 



Y 



Trick 2 
B 



Trick 3 
B 



» 4 



mm 


¥1 


OPE 






mm 


HEPS 


1 




H 






H 






A must now be careful to unblock dummy's hearts 
before playing another round of trumps. 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



(Illustrative Hand No. $ — Continued) 



Trick 4 





B 




9? 




9? 




9? 


9? 9? 




9? 










9? 



B 







o . 











Z 





























A 






and 


make 


s his 


con 



tract and game. 

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 4 

A King, io, 8, 7 

V King, Knave, 9 

♦ King, 8 5 

* 8, 6, 3 



A 6, 4, 2 

V Ace, io, 3, 2 

♦ 3 

Ace, King, Queen, 
9, 4 




A Queen, Knave, 9 

V 8,7 

♦ 10, 9, 6, 2 

4» Knave, 10, 7, 2 



A Ace, 5, 3 

¥ Queen, 6, 5, 4 

♦ Ace, Queen, Knave, 7, 4 

* 5 

THE BIDDING 

A "One No-Trump" 
Y "Two Hearts" 
B "Two No-Trumps" 
Closed 



228 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Illustrative Hand No. 4 — Continued) 



COMMENTS ON THE BIDDING 



Y employs the ruse known as "the shift," that is 
without disclosing his strength by calling u two clubs" 
he tries to induce the third player (probably guarded 
in hearts) to call u two no-trumps." If B instead of 
overcalling double Y's bid the latter has an easy 
"shift" to clubs, but as he swallows the bait Y downs 
the declarer. 

B having a stopper in hearts besides a hand count- 
ing up to 18 raises his partner's bid to "two no- 
trumps." 

Y having gained his end would be very foolish to 
double with two weak suits to which the declarer 
can branch. If Y doubles A declares "three dia- 
monds" and fulfils his contract quite easily. 



ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 5 



A Ace, 6, 3 

V King, Knave, 9 

Ace, 10, 4 
«9» Ace, King, Queen, 4 

THE BIDDING 

A "One No-Trump" 
Y "No" 
B "Two Clubs" 
Z "No" 

A "Two No-Trumps" 
Closed 



* 9 

V 10 

♦ Queen, Knave, 8, 7, 5 
4» 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 2 



4fc King, Knave, 10, 5 

V Ace, 5, 4, 3, 2 

♦ 3, 2 

Jfr Knave, 9 




Queen, 8, 7, 4, 2 
Queen, 8, 7, 6 
King, 9, 6 
3 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



(Illustrative Hand No. 5 — Continued) 

COMMENTS ON THE BIDDING 

B makes a perfectly sound "rescue" bid with six 
clubs to the ten, but A returns to no-trumps as he is 
fully guarded in all the suits and he is practically cer- 
tain of being able to utilize dummy's long suit of 
clubs, having a low club as a re-entry for dummy in 
the fourth round. 



Trick 1 



B 



CO o 



111 



Trick 2 
B 



* * 



A 



A plays ace, king, queen of clubs and then 
dummy's three long clubs. He then leads the queen 
of diamonds to take the finesse. The only way Z 
can prevent a grand slam is by holding up king of 
diamonds to the third round. 

The declarer makes a small slam. 



23o ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 6 

SCORE A B 10 ; Y Z O IN THE RUBBER GAME 



-B 10 ; Y 

♦ 



Queen, 5, 4 
Ace, 7, 4, 3, 2 
6 

Queen, Knave, 7, 4 



A King, 9, 8, 6, 3 

V King, Queen 

♦ 10, 8 

* 10, 8, 3, 2 




Knave, 10, 9, 6 
Ace, King, Queen, 

King, 9, 6 



V 



A 


"One Royal" 


B 


"No" 


Y 


"No" 


Z 


"Two Diamonds" 


A 


"No" 


Y 


"No" 


B 


"Two Royals" 


Z 


"Three Diamonds 


A 


"No" 


Y 


"No" 


B 


"Three Rovals" 


Z 


"No" 


A 


"No" 


Y 


"Double" 



Ace, Knave, 10, 7, 2 
8, 5 

Knave, 9, 7, 5 
Ace, 5 

THE BIDDING 



[■ First Round 



Second Round 



Third Round 



J- Fourth Round 
1 

Closed 

COMMENTS ON THE BIDDING 
There was some tall bidding on this hand as the 
rubber game was being played. Y's double was a 
"free" double because the adversaries 1 completed 
contract would have given them game, his partner's 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



(Illustrative Hand No. 6 — Continued) 

"three diamonds" showed control of the suit, and 
there was little fear of A-B branching to "three no- 
trumps. " 

Trick i 
B 















O 


oooo 
o o 
oooo 




















A 





The declarer has no long suit to establish; his best 
course is to play for a cross ruff. 

Trick 3 
B 




A now plays a diamond for dummy to ruff. On 
the third round of diamonds Y plays king of spades 
and draws one round of trumps but the declarer can- 
not be prevented from making ten tricks. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 7 



4k Queen, Knave, 2 

V Ace, 7 

♦ Knave, 10, 3, 2 

tfr King, Queen, 8, 2 



* 5, 3 

¥ 10, 9, 8, 6, 4 

* King, Queen, 9, 8, 7 

* 5 




King, 10, 9, 7 6 
Queen, 5, 3 
Ace 

Knave, 9, 7, 3 



A Ace, 8, 4 

V King, Knave, 2 

♦ 6, 5, 4 

•fr Ace, 10, 6, 4 

THE BIDDING . 

A "One No-Trump" 

Y "No" 
B "No" 

Z "Two Royals" 

A "No" 

Y "No" 

B "Two No-Trumps" 
Closed 




A 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



233 



A rubber is often lost by not providing for the 
unequal distribution of a suit in the adversaries' 
hands. If the clubs are divided three in one hand 
and two in the other the declarer must make four 
tricks in the suit — but there is the possibility of the 
knave being guarded in one of the opponents' hands. 
The declarer must arrange his finesse in advance for 
this contingency always postponing his finesse as 
long as possible in order to obtain an indication of 
how the cards lie. When it is only possible to ar- 
range the finesse in one of the two hands the player 
has to assume that the card he is finessing against 
lies in a position favorable to him. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Illustrative Hand No. 7 — Continued) 

Trick 2 Trick J 

B B 



A 



* * 




* 






<? 


9? 


* 




* 


z 


Y 






* * 




* 






<? 


- 




B 







9 


Y 








9? 


9 



4. * 
4. * 



*** 

*** 
A 



Trick 5 
B 



Y o o 

o o 



4. * 

4* 
4.* 



A 




ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 235 



(Illustrative Hand No. 7 — Continued) 



Trick 6 
B 







9 

























B 



9? 9? 



9? 


T 


9? 

9? 




V 


9? 


9? 



9? <? 

2 



MM 



A 





A 



A player is always justified in risking the fulfil- 
ment of his contract when a successful finesse will 
give him game and rubber. 



236 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 8 

4k Ace, King 

y Queen, 9, 8, 2 

+ Knave, 6, 5, 3, 2 

A Queen, 3 



A Knave, 3 
¥ Ace, 10, 7, 6, 5 
King 

A King, Knave, 9, 7, 6 



A Queen, 5, 4, 2 

¥ Knave, 4 

4 Ace, Queen, 10 

* Ace, 10, 5, 4 



A 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 

V King, 3 

9, 8, 7, 4 
* 8, 2 



THE BIDDING ■ 

A "One No-Trump" 
Y "Two Hearts" 
B "Two No-Trumps" 
Closed 



Trick 1 
B 



Y 















a a 

A 




• 


A ' A 






A A 







Trick 2 
B 



Y 

are 



A 



A 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



(Illustrative Hand No. 8— Continued) 



Trick 3 
B 



+ 



* 

A 



Trick 4 
B 



o 



o 



Trick 5 
B 





V 


V 


Y 


'D 


V 




9 


v 



o o 



o o 



0<>0 
O 



%0 

o o 

0% 




238 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Illustrative Hand No. 8 — Continued) 



Trick 7 
B 



o o 



o v o 
o o 



-9 9 



Trick 8 
B 



o o 
o o 
o o 



V 



♦ * 



Trick g 
B 



4. * 



* 4 



V 




A 



A 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



(Illustrative Band No. 8— Continued) 

Trick ii Trick 12 

B 



9 <? 
9? 9? 



















9? 





A 



A — B make the game. 



A A 

A*A 
4- A 




*** 




a A 
A A 

A*A 





ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 9 



4k Queen, Knave, 9, 3, 2 

V King, Knave, 3 

♦ Ace, Queen, 9 

Jf» 10, 2 



A 8, 7 

V Queen, 9, 6 
♦ King, Knave, 10, ! 
6, 3 

<fr Knave, 6 

♦ 




King, 10, 4 
Ace, 10, 2 

Ace, King, 8, 4, 3 



Ace, 6, 5 
8, 7, 5, 4 
7, 4 

Queen, 9, 7, 5 



THE BIDDING 

A "One No-Trump" 

Y "Two Diamonds" 
B "Double" 

Z "No" 

A "No" 

Y "No" 



COMMENTS ON THE BIDDING 

An opportunity for doubling instead of bidding 
arises when the second player has called two in a 
suit over the dealer's no-trump and it is clear to the 
third player that it is a weak call merely intended 
to push the dealer. It is a form of pushing that is 
apt to be heavily penalized, because a contract to 
make eight tricks against a sound no-trump is always 
difficult to fulfil. The third player's double gives 
the dealer an opportunity to declare "two no- 
trumps" or to play to defeat the contract. 

The general rule is that a bid of "two" in a minor 
suit should not be doubled unless the doubler is as- 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



241 



sured of success, and is at the same time prepared 
to double any suit to which the declarer may branch. 

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 10 



A 10, 8, Z 

V King, Queen, Knave, 9 

♦ 3 

♦ Ace, Knave, 9, 7, 3 



A 7 

V 8, 7, 6, 5 

♦ Ace, Knave, 7, 2 

4» King, 10, 6, 2 




A King, 6, 5, 4 
V Ace, 10 

♦ King, Queen, 10, 

9, 8, 5, 4 

* - 



A Ace, Queen, Knave, 9, 3 
V 4, 3, 2 



♦ 
* 



Queen, 8, 5, 4 



THE BIDDING 



A 
Y 



"One Royal" 
"No* 
B "No" 

Z "Two Diamonds" 



A "No" 

Y "No" 

B "Two Royals" 

Z "No" 

A "No" 

Y "Three Diamonds" 
B "Three Royals" 

Z "Four Diamonds" 



A 
Y 



"No" 
"No" 
B "Four Royals" 
Z "Double" 

Closed 



» First Round 



. Second Round 



Third Round 



- Fourth Round 



242 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Illustrative Hand No. 10— Continued) 

Trick I Trick 2 



B 



B 









o 










O 












2 s> 









Y 








9? 


9 
























A 





7Y/Y& ^ 
B 



Y 



A 









V 

* * 













ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



243 



(Illustrative Hand No. 10 — Continued) 



Trick 5 



V 

♦ 



♦ 

A 



♦ * 
* 



Trick 6 



\ 







* * 




TO 



A 




244 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Illustrative Hand No. 10 — Continued) 




°0° 




o- 





























9 9 



Trick io 
B 



WW\ 














o v o 








Trick II 
B 



4- * 



* 
* 




o o 
oooo 




4- * 

4* 
* + 






A 





Trick 12 
B 



4.*4. 



4. 4. 



4. 4. 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



245 



(Illustrative Hand No. 10 — Continued) 

Trick 13 
B 



rap 

A 



*** 






* * 

4. A 



A — B make eleven tricks. 



ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 1 1 

A Ace, 10, 5, 4, 3 

V King, 9, 6, 5 

♦ 2 

«2» King, 8, 7 



£ Knave, 6 

V Queen, 10, 3, 2 

^ King, Queen 

4i Knave, 10, 6, 4, 3 



A King, 8, 7 

V Ace, 8, 4 

4 Ace, 8, 7, 3 

* Ace, 5, z 

THE BIDDING 

A "One No-Trump" 

Y "No" 

B "No" 

Z "No" 



A Queen, 9, 2 
y Knave, 7 
4 Knave, 10, 9, 6, 5, 4 
Queen, 9 




246 ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Illustrative Hand No. II — Continued) 

Trick I 
B 




This is an every-day situation that is frequently 
badly handled. The declarer can make seven tricks 
but he needs nine for game, and the two extra tricks 
can only be made in spades if he retains the com- 
mand of the diamonds until Z is exhausted. 



Trick 3 
B 




V 

4. * 







* * 








4. 




4. 4. 



A 

A now establishes dummy's spades while he has 
still command of all the suits. A-B make ten tricks. 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 12 



V 



9, 8, 6, 5 

10, 7 

Queen, 10, 8, 7, 



6, 5, 4 



4> Queen, 5, 3, 2 



A Ace, Knave, 3 
V King, 9, 8, 6 
♦ Knave, 2 



Y 



A 



B 



Z 



A 10, 2 

V Knave, 3, 2 

♦ 9> 3 

♦ King, Knave, 10, 



9, 7, 6 



A King, Queen, 7, 4 

V Ace, Queen, 5, 4 

♦ Ace, King 

A Ace, 8, 4 

THE BIDDING 

A "One No-Trump" 
Y "No" 

B "Two Diamonds" 
Z "No" 

A "Two No-Trumps" 
Closed 



Trick 1 




1<? 9 



A 



248 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



(Illustrative Hand No. 12 — Continued) 

The possibilities of the hand lie entirely in the 
diamond suit: after playing ace and king of dia- 
monds A must play to create a re-entry in the spade 
suit in dummy's hand. It does not matter whether 
or not Y holds up the ace of spades at trick 4. 

Trick 2 
B 







c 















Y 











• 










Trick 5 
B 




Y now plays for the establishment of his hearts 
having a sure re-entry in spades: if he plays a club 



ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 



(Illustrative Hand No. 12 — Continued) 

instead the declarer can only make six tricks in all 
— this is where the advantage of playing the two 
hands comes in, the declarer has a complete knowl- 
edge of his resources, the adversaries have not. 





Trick 8 
B 



o 
o o 
o o 



9? 9 




9? 


9? 9? 




9? 


9? 9? 




9? 



9? 9? 



9 9 



g 

B 



9? 9? 

9? 
9? 9? 

9? 
9? 9? 



o o 
o o 



9? 9 

9? 
5 



* * Z 
4. 4. 



ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE 



Y 



(Illustrative Hand No. 12 — Continued) 



Trick 10 
B 



<> 



Trick 11 
B 



* 



4. 4. 





A — B make nine tricks and game. 



INDEX 



PAGE 



PREFACE vii 

INTRODUCTORY ix 

PART I. FIRST PRINCIPLES AND SOME 

SCHOOLS OF BIDDING i 

Two Leading Schools I 

"Piling Up Velvet" 2 

Lying Low for Penalties 2 

Playing for the Rubber Bonus 2 

Average Size of a Rubber 3 

Reasons for Waiting 4 

Flaws of the Waiting Game 5 

A Forward Game 5 

Value of First Principles 6 

A Cardinal Principle 6 

Another Basic Principle 7 

The Seven Declarations 8 

Game the First Goal 9 

Advantages of the Deal 9 

Advantage of Playing the Two Hands 9 

An Important Consideration io 

Relative Importance of the Major and Minor Suits II 

Reward for Sound Declarations 12 

Straightforward Bidding 13 

Effect of Nullos on the Bidding 14 

PART II. THE OPENING BID: "ONE NO- 

TRUMP" 15 

No-Trump the Best Opening Declaration 15 

A Minimum No-Trumper. 16 

Estimating the Value of a Hand 17 

251 



252 INDEX 



PART II. — Continued page 
Discounting Singleton Aces and Unguarded Hon- 
ors . . .* 1 8 

Requirements of a No-Trump Hand 19 

More Minimum No-Trumpers 19 

Average Hand No-Trumper 20 

"One No-Trump'' in Preference to a Spade 21 

Holdings Above the Average 21 

Three-Ace No-Trumpers 22 

Aceless No-Trumpers 22 

Standard No-Trumpers 23 

Two Suit No-Trumpers 24 

Aggressive and Inf ormatory No-Trumpers 25 

No-Trumps and Nullos 26 

PART III. THE OPENING BID: ROYALS 

AND HEARTS 27 

The Major Suit Contracts 27 

Royals and Hearts in Preference to No-Trump. . . 27 

The Extra Trick 28 

"Not No-Trump" 29 

Distinction Between the Major and Minor Suits. 30 

The Extra Trick Required for Game 30 

Light Suit Bids a Mistake 30 

Royals or Hearts? 32 

Minimum Strength for a Bid 32 

Table of Royal and Heart Declarations 33 

PART IV. CONCERNING NULLOS -. . . . 35 

Various Trick Values Assigned to Nullos 35 

Table of Trick and Honor Values Including 

Nullos 37 

A Contract to Lose Tricks 38 

How Honors are Scored ; 39 

Sizing Up the Contract 39 

Only an Additional Declaration 40 

PARTV. THE OPENING BID: NULLOS.... 43 

Three Suits Guarded 43 

Protected Suits 44 

A Yarborough not Always a Good Nullo 45 



INDEX 253 



PART V.— Continued page 

Bad Hands for Nullos 45 

Composite Hands 46 

"Nullos," Not No-Trumps. 47 

"Nullos," Not Royals or Hearts 48 

A Non-Informatory Declaration 48 

"Nullos," Not Diamonds or Clubs 49 

"Nullos" in Preference to a Spade 49 

A Speculative Bid. 50 

Blank Suits and Singletons 51 

The Exposed Hand 51 

Low Cards versus High Cards 52 

A Formula for the Nullo Bid 52 

PART VI. THE OPENING BID: DIAMONDS 

AND CLUBS 55 

Requirements of a Bid in a Minor Suit 55 

Five by Cards Required for Game 56 

Informaiory Bids of Diamonds and Clubs 56 

"Partial Game" 57 

Distinction Between a Major and a Minor Suit 

Declaration 57 

Danger of Declaring a Minor Suit without Trump 

Length 58 

Inferences to be Drawn from the Bid 59 

No-Trump in Preference to Diamonds and Clubs 60 

PART VII. OPENING BIDS OF "TWO," 

"THREE" AND "FOUR" 63 

No Inflexible Rule for Declaring . 63 

"Freak Hands" 63 

When to- Discourage Adverse Bidding 64 

Three Conditions Necessary 65 

"Two No-Trumps" 65 

Suit Bids of "Two" 66 

"Two Royals" and "Two Hearts" 67 

Feeble Shut-Out Bids 68 

"Two Diamonds" and "Two Clubs" 68 

Suit Bids of "Three".... 70 

"Three Royals" and "Three Hearts" 70 

"Three Diamonds" and "Three Clubs" 71 

Suit Bids of "Four" 71 



254 



INDEX 



PAGE 



PART VIII. THE OPENING BID: SPADES. . . 73 

"One Spade" 73 

"Not Nullos" 74 

Waiting Hands 75 

Some Waiting Hands Discussed 76 

"Two Spades" 77 

Multiple Spade Bids 78 

Meaning of Spade Bids 80 

PART IX. DECLARATIONS BY THE SECOND 

PLAYER 83 

Passing the Dealer's Spade 83 

No-Trump When the Dealer has Called a Spade. . 84 

Suit Bids When the Dealer has Called a Spade. . . 84 
Suit Bids When the Dealer has Called "Two 

Spades" 85 

Voluntary Bids and Forced Bids 85 

Two Golden Rules for the Second Player 86 

Doubtful Overbids .' 86 

When the Dealer has Called "One No-Trump". . 87 

Suit Bids Over Dealer's "One No-Trump" 87 

Overcalling Dealer's No-Trump in a Major Suit. 88 

Light Overcalls in a Suit 89 

Overcalling the Dealer's No-Trump in a Minor 

Suit go 

Overcalling the Dealer's No-Trump with Nullos 91 

Overcalling Dealer's Suit Bids 93 

PART X. DECLARATIONS BY THE THIRD 

PLAYER : 95 

When the Dealer has Called a Spade 95 

Secondary Pre-emptive Bids 97 

Overcalling the Partner's Bid 98 

Overcalling the Dealer's Attacking Bid 99 

Aggressive Overcalls 100 

Two Royals or Hearts over Dealer's No-Trump. 101 

No-Trump over Dealer's One Royal or Heart. . . 101 

Protective Overcalls 102 

The Dealer's Answer to an Overbid 103 

Supporting the Dealer's Declaration 104 



INDEX 255 



PART X.— Continued page 

Raising the Partner's No-Trump Declaration. . . . 104 

Raising the Dealer's Suit Bid 105 

How to Reckon "Tricks" and "Raisers" 107 

Estimating the Assisting Value of a Hand 108 

PART XL CONTINUATION OF THE BID- 
DING in 

The Personal Element Ill 

Declarations by the Fourth Player 112 

Importance of the Major Suit Contracts 114 

Overcalling Partner's Suit Bid 115 

How to Secure a Majority of Trumps 116 

Giving Partner the Benefit of the Doubt. 117 

Estimating the Declaring Value of a Hand 117 

Declaring Value of the Trump Suit 119 

Trick Value of Plain Suits 119 

Appraising the Assisting Value of a Hand 120 

Difference between Declaring and Assisting Values 121 

Raising Suit Declarations 122 

Combining the Hands in a Suit Declaration 123 

Raising a No-Trump Declaration 124 

Double Bidding 125 

Speculative Bidding 126 

Bidding to the Limit 127 

Flag Flying 128 

PART XII. DOUBLING 129 

The Golden Rule for Doubling 129 

When to Double 130 

Doubling Instead of Bidding 131 

The Personal Element 132 

Bad Doubles 132 

Rescuing Partner from a Double 134 

PART XIII. THE SCORE 135 

Order of Bidding 135 

Effect of the Score on the Bidding 137 

The Game Line 137 

PART XIV. THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY 139 

Against a No-Trump Declaration 139 



256 INDEX 



PART XIV. — Continued page 

The Opening Lead from a Sequence or Long Suit. 139 

Singletons, Doubletons and Strengthened 140 

Undesirable Opening Leads 140 

Table of Opening Leads against a Trump Declara- 
tion 141 

Summary of Leads with a Declared Trump 142 

Returning the Partner's Lead 143 

Inferring the Strength and Length of the Trump 

Suit 144 

The Seven Rule 145 

Minimum Strength for a Suit Declaration 146 

Practical Application of the Trump Formula. ... 147 

The Opening Lead at No-Trumps 148 

Selecting Partner's Suit 149 

The Card to Lead 150 

Opening Leader's Own Suit 151 

Table of Leads at No-Trumps 152 

Leading a High Card at No-Trumps 154 

Simplifying the Leads 155 

Returning Partner's Lead at No-Trumps 156 

Unblocking 156 

The Discard 157 

The Club Convention 159 

Conventions and Inferences 160 

PART XV. THE DECLARER'S PLAY 163 

With a Declared Trump 163 

Playing without Trumps 164 

Throwing the Lead, Finessing and L nderplay. ... ids 

Locating Adverse Strength 167 

How to Use the Counting System 168 

PART XVI. HOW TO PLAY NULLOS 171 

The Blind Lead at Nullos 171 

The Minus-Four Rule 171 

Leading Ideas in the Play of a Nullo 172 

Test Hand No. 1 173 

Comments on the Bidding 174 

The Play of the Hand. .7. . .- 175 

The Return Lead 176 



INDEX 257 



PART XVI.— Continued page 

Throwing the Lead 177 

Counting the Cards in Each Suit. . . . ■ 178 

Value of Exit Cards 179 

Taking an Inevitable Trick 180 

End-Play at Nullos 181 

Test Hand No. 2 183 

Value of Nullos as Forcers. 184 

Making a Target of Dummy 185 

Test Hand No. 3 186 

Test Hand No. 4 187 

Combining the Hands in the Bidding 187 

PART XVII. THE LAWS OF AUCTION 189 

The Rubber 189 

Scoring 189 

When a Trump Is Declared 190 

When No-Trump Is Declared 190 

Cutting 191 

Forming Tables 192 

Cutting Out 192 

Right of Entry 192 

Shuffling 193 

The Deal 194 

A New Deal 194 

The Declaration 196 

Doubling and Redoubling. 199 

Dummy 201 

Cards Exposed Before Play 203 

Cards Exposed During Play 203 

Leads Out of Turn 205 

Cards Played in Error 206 

The Revoke 207 

General Rules 209 

New Cards 210 

Bystanders 210 



PART XVIII. ETIQUETTE OF AUCTION. . . 211 



258 



INDEX 



PAGE 

PART XIX. THE LAWS OF THREE-HANDED 

AUCTION 213 

PART XX. THE LAWS OF DUPLICATE AUC- 
TION 217 

PART XXI. ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS 221 



THE END 



nt. SR^X 0F CONGRESS 



mi inn inn iiiii inn mil iiiii inn 

029 604 584" 6 




